snail

1 of 2

noun

ˈsnāl How to pronounce snail (audio)
Synonyms of snailnext
1
: a gastropod mollusk especially when having an external enclosing spiral shell
2
: a slow-moving or sluggish person or thing
snaillike
ˈsnāl-ˌlīk How to pronounce snail (audio)
adjective

snail

2 of 2

verb

snailed; snailing; snails

intransitive verb

: to move, act, or go slowly or lazily

Synonyms of snail

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Noun

Verb

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Examples of snail in a Sentence

Noun go and tell the snails in the back to hurry up Verb the highway construction work created a bottleneck that had cars snailing for the next five miles
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The game was crawling along at a snail’s pace with a rare boundary here and there. — Mohsin Kamal, New York Times, 25 June 2026 Prevent snails and slugs by watering your plants in the morning so the soil dries before nightfall. — Michelle Mastro, Martha Stewart, 24 June 2026
Verb
Could snail slime and salmon sperm be the next big things in skincare? — Leslie Baumann, Miami Herald, 26 Jan. 2024 The northern part of the island was at a standstill, schools closed, traffic snailing down the motorway. — Ariel Saramandi, The Dial, 29 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for snail

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English snægl; akin to Old High German snecko snail, snahhan to creep

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1582, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of snail was before the 12th century

Phrases Containing snail

Rhymes for snail

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Browse Nearby Words

snag tree
snail
snail's pace
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Snail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snail. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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Kids Definition

snail

noun
ˈsnā(ə)l
1
: any of numerous small mollusks that are gastropods usually with a spiral shell and that include some living on land and others living in water
2
: a slow-moving person or thing

Medical Definition

snail

noun
ˈsnā(ə)l How to pronounce snail (audio)
: any of various gastropod mollusks and especially those having an external enclosing spiral shell including some which are important in medicine as intermediate hosts of trematodes

More from Merriam-Webster on snail

Nglish: Translation of snail for Spanish Speakers

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