escargot
Americannoun
plural
escargotsnoun
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."
Vocabulary lists containing escargot
World Cuisine - Introductory
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World Cuisine - Middle School and High School
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National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
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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.
There's no butter chicken or naan here and Kumar's epiphany came with an unlikely encounter: French escargot.
From BBC • Jun. 27, 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
Most Americans are familiar with the French version of snails: escargot, your common garden snail, cooked in butter and flecked with herbs.
From New York Times • Mar. 23, 2022
“Petite escargot porte sur son dos,” Dad sings at the table.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
