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Synonyms

snail's pace

American  

noun

  1. an extremely slow rate.

    The work progresses at a snail's pace.
snail's pace British  

noun

  1. a very slow or sluggish speed or rate

"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
snail's pace Idioms  

  1. A very slow pace, as in They're making progress with testing the new vaccine, but at a snail's pace. [c. 1400]

Etymology

Origin of snail's pace

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

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.

"The trial has moved on - but it is moving at a snails pace," Ms MacKeown's lawyer Vikram Varma told BBC News.

From BBC • Dec. 27, 2013

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.