snail's pace

American  

noun

1. an extremely slow rate.

   The work progresses at a snail's pace.

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snail's pace British  

noun

1. a very slow or sluggish speed or rate

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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]

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Etymology

Origin of snail's pace

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

The snail's pace is intentional: as if carrying a precious Ming vase, the slow, gentle motion reduces stresses on the multi‑billion‑dollar rocket and launch tower.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

What stands out, however, was how the prosecution moved at a snail’s pace, facilitated by U.S.

From Salon • Jul. 12, 2025

The railway line, China’s flagship infrastructure project in the region, has been snarled by regulatory and other issues and progressed at a snail’s pace during five years of work.

From New York Times • May 9, 2024

Five days after beating Arizona on its home court, USC was outplaying the Wildcats again with sticky defense and a snail’s pace that favored the Trojans.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2024

While human evolution was crawling at its usual snail’s pace, the human imagination was building astounding networks of mass cooperation, unlike any other ever seen on earth.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari