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escargot

American  
[es-kar-goh, es-kahr-goh] / ɛs karˈgoʊ, ˌɛs kɑrˈgoʊ /

noun

French.
  • escargots
    plural
  1. an edible snail.


escargot British  
/ ɛskarɡo /

noun

  1. a variety of edible snail, usually eaten with a sauce made of melted butter and garlic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Explanation

Escargot is what you call a snail when you're planning on eating it. Traditional French restaurants often include escargot on the menu. The idea of eating snails might make you feel a little queasy, but the dish would probably surprise you: escargot is typically cooked in a rich, garlicky butter sauce, and it's delicious. The snails used for escargot are particularly large, and the dish is generally served as an appetizer. Escargot is the French word for "snail," from the Latin conchylium, "edible shellfish."

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Vocabulary lists containing escargot

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Then the conversation morphed: Why not go abroad and try ranch on foods they’ve never thought of, like escargot or paella?

From The Wall Street Journal May 29, 2026

Edible snails - or escargot - are a French delicacy, usually cooked in garlic butter or wine before being extracted from their shell.

From BBC Nov. 30, 2025

It might have you reconsidering that dish of escargot you were about to order.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 8, 2025

He taught me how to cook escargot, orange roughy with almonds with lemon butter sauce with white wine.

From Seattle Times Nov. 17, 2023

They’re nothing like escargot, where someone took a snail and gave it a fancy name.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Any closer and Pogacar’s elbow might knock your wine into your escargots.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 24, 2026

I had escargots - I love escargots - but everyone else in my group had them.

From BBC Jun. 1, 2023

It also might help out if your companion orders escargots, heavy on the garlic.

From Seattle Times May 28, 2020

Hence a carrot grain bowl parked amid the escargots, steak frites and tuna nicoise.

From Washington Post Jan. 7, 2020

After all, gourmands bought escargots in order to fill their shells then, after washing, repeated the process on future occasions.

From The Land of Look Behind by Paul Cameron Brown

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