snail

American  

[sneyl] / sneɪl /

noun

snails plural

1. any mollusk of the class Gastropoda, having a spirally coiled shell and a ventral muscular foot on which it slowly glides about.

2. a slow or lazy person; sluggard.

3. Machinery. a cam having the form of a spiral.

4. Midwestern and Western U.S. a sweet roll in spiral form, especially a cinnamon roll or piece of Danish pastry.

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snail British  

/ sneɪl /

noun

1. 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 )

2. any other gastropod with a spirally coiled shell, such as a whelk

3. a slow-moving or lazy person or animal

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• snail-like
  adjective
• snaillike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• snails
  plural

Etymology

Origin of snail

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

Explanation

A snail is a small mollusk with a spiral-shaped shell. Snails are famous for moving very slowly, and for leaving a trail of slime behind them. If you see snails on a restaurant menu, they're more likely to be listed as escargot, or "edible snail" in French. There are three general categories of snails: land snails, sea snails, and freshwater snails. They all have shells that they can retreat within—without a shell, a similar animal is instead called a slug. Snail can be traced back to the diminutive form of the Old English snaca, "snake" or "creeping thing."

Example Sentences

“Only over yan way to the first piece of wet ground, and the trail leads down to tha’ spring tha’, and tha’ is quite a right smart bit of muddy swail beyont.”

From The Black Wolf Pack by Beard, Daniel Carter

Related Words

• clam
• conch
• crawfish
• crustacean
• lobster
• mollusk
• mussel
• oyster
• prawn
• scallop
• shrimp