snowball
Americannoun
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any of several shrubs belonging to the genus Viburnum, of the honeysuckle family, having large clusters of white, sterile flowers.
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a confection of crushed ice, usually in the shape of a ball, which is flavored with fruit or other syrup and served in a paper cup.
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a scoop or ball of ice cream covered with shredded coconut and usually chocolate sauce.
verb (used with object)
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to throw snowballs at.
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to cause to grow or become larger, greater, more intense, etc., at an accelerating rate.
to snowball a small business into a great enterprise.
verb (used without object)
noun
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snow pressed into a ball for throwing, as in play
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a drink made of advocaat and lemonade
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slang a mixture of heroin and cocaine
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a dance started by one couple who separate and choose different partners. The process continues until all present are dancing
verb
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(intr) to increase rapidly in size, importance, etc
their woes have snowballed since last year
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(tr) to throw snowballs at
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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snowballsimple
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snowballssimple
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have snowballedperfect
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has snowballedperfect
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am snowballingprogressive
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are snowballingprogressive
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is snowballingprogressive
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have been snowballingperfect progressive
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has been snowballingperfect progressive
Past
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snowballedsimple
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had snowballedperfect
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was snowballingprogressive
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were snowballingprogressive
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had been snowballingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of snowball
Vocabulary lists containing snowball
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:
And once a selloff really gets going, it could snowball.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
The risk, they say, is that the agents will act using bad data, creating problems that have the potential to snowball within a user’s computer system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026
“It was like losing the worst snowball fight of your life.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
The suit was filed on behalf of a Costco member in the state, Matthew Stockov, and seeks class-action status, meaning it has the potential to snowball into something bigger.
From Barron's ● Mar. 12, 2026
George was about to make her own snowball when—thwack!
From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene
The marks left by the so called "cosmic snowballs" on Dimorphos suggest that debris spun off Didymos and later landed on its companion.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2026
Video shows snowballs flying at them from multiple directions.
From Slate ● Feb. 28, 2026
The mayor jokingly encouraged city school kids to throw snowballs at him for re-opening school after the blizzard.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026
"Our ancestors were surely doing the same thing. It's the oldest winter sport in human history: long before skating or skiing, humans were already throwing snowballs at each other. That's its biggest appeal."
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
Playing, Jon thought in astonishment, grown men playing like children, throwing snowballs the way Bran and Arya once did, and Robb and me before them.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
The protests have since snowballed into a revolt, marked by calls for Paz's resignation, just six months after he took office.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
“I’ve seen Los Angeles when it was beautiful, and what it has snowballed into,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
If she hadn’t acted, it might have snowballed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
That number only snowballed, and I nearly paused all my substitute teaching to keep up with demand.
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026
He plunged and snowballed and tumbled and laughed until the sky in the west turned fiery orange.
From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli
The snowballing retreat in software stocks that gathered up big tech, private credit, and even the corporate bond market this past week ended in a remarkable rebound, leaving investors bracing for more turbulence ahead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
The report had the effect of snowballing losses, as the company had already disclosed problems impacting over 6,000 aircraft.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 1, 2025
Union bosses say teachers are under unprecedented pressure, suffering from snowballing demands, ever increasing workloads and, in many cases, burnout.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2025
For Ariella Santoyo, owner of My Quince World, the crackdown's snowballing effect on a billion-dollar immigrant economy is reminiscent of Covid and how the pandemic devastated the area.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2025
Then, snowballing the rest of the clothes into one soft, conglomerate mass, she stuffed them out of sight under the bed.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
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.
