DEFINITIONS
The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...

snail

[ sneyl ]
/ sneɪl /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR snail ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any mollusk of the class Gastropoda, having a spirally coiled shell and a ventral muscular foot on which it slowly glides about.
a slow or lazy person; sluggard.
Machinery. a cam having the form of a spiral.
Midwestern and Western U.S. a sweet roll in spiral form, especially a cinnamon roll or piece of Danish pastry.

Content related to snail

Stationary vs. StationeryStationary and stationery are just one letter off, but that seemingly small difference changes the meaning of these words entirely. These two terms share the Latin root statiōnārius, which derives from the word station meaning “a standing place.” Stationary with an a is the older of these two terms, and it means “fixed in one place and not moving,” like a stationary bicycle at the …
READ MORE
They Call It Puppy Love And Other Animal-inspired PhrasesWe often attribute emotions and other human characteristics to animals. This is called anthropomorphism . Similarly, we also describe people using animal characteristics. You might, for example, say my teenage son “eats like a horse,” meaning he’s a growing boy and consumes a lot of food. This is called zoomorphism . Zoomorphism also includes assigning animal-like qualities to gods and inanimate objects. The term comes from …
READ MORE

Words related to snail

clam, abalone, crustacean, mollusk, scallop, conch, crawfish, prawn, shrimp, lobster, mussel, oyster, straggler, idler, procrastinator, sluggard, slug, plodder, dawdler, whelk

Words nearby snail

snaffle, snafu, snag, snaggletooth, snaggy, snail, snail bore, snail cam, snail darter, snail fever, snail kite

Origin of snail

before 900; Middle English snail, snayl(e), Old English snegel; cognate with Low German snagel, German (dial.) Schnegel

OTHER WORDS FROM snail

snail·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for snail

British Dictionary definitions for snail

snail
/ (sneɪl) /

noun

any of numerous terrestrial or freshwater gastropod molluscs with a spirally coiled shell, esp any of the family Helicidae, such as Helix aspersa (garden snail)
any other gastropod with a spirally coiled shell, such as a whelk
a slow-moving or lazy person or animal

Derived forms of snail

snail-like, adjective

Word Origin for snail

Old English snægl; related to Old Norse snigill, Old High German snecko
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