escargot
Americannoun
noun
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."
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.
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
Kumar admitted that he was ashamed of it as a boy as it "felt like food born of poverty - until I saw the pride with which the French serve 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
Fried said people should definitely shy away from the snails, which are not the type one finds in escargot.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2022
“Petite escargot porte sur son dos,” Dad sings at the table.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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
Lincoln Carson, the chef of the new Los Angeles brasserie Bon Temps, tops escargots vol-au-vents with a take on persillade using green chartreuse; the “long, foresty notes” of the liqueur pair perfectly with snails.
From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2019
"Monsieur is funning, he would not eat escargots himself."
From Sally Bishop A Romance by Thurston, E. Temple (Ernest Temple)
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.
