snail

¹snail

noun \ˈsnāl\

Definition of SNAIL

1

: a gastropod mollusk especially when having an external enclosing spiral shell

2

: a slow-moving or sluggish person or thing

— snail·like \ˈsnāl-ˌlīk\ adjective

Examples of SNAIL

1. <go and tell the snails in the back to hurry up>

Origin of SNAIL

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

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to SNAIL

Synonyms

crawler, dallier, dawdler, dragger, laggard, lagger, lingerer, loiterer, plodder, slowpoke, straggler

Antonyms

speedster

Related Words

latecomer; idler, lazybones, loafer, lounger, slouch, slug, sluggard; delayer, procrastinator

Near Antonyms

go-getter, hustler, scrambler; hurrier, rusher, speeder

Rhymes with SNAIL

ail, ale, bail, bale, Bâle, brail, braille, Braille, dale, fail, flail, frail, Gael, gale, Gale, grail, hail, hale, jail, kale, mail, male, nail, pail, pale, quail, Quayle, rail, sail, sale, scale, shale, stale, swale, tael, tail, taille, tale, trail, vail, vale, veil, wail, wale, whale, Yale

²snail

intransitive verb

Definition of SNAIL

: to move, act, or go slowly or lazily

Examples of SNAIL

1. <the highway construction work created a bottleneck that had cars snailing for the next five miles>

First Known Use of SNAIL

1582

Related to SNAIL

Synonyms

creak (along), creep, drag, inch, limp, nose, ooze, plod, poke, slouch, crawl

Antonyms

fly, race, speed, whiz (or whizz), zip

Related Words

lumber, shamble, shuffle, tramp, trudge

Near Antonyms

float, glide, sail; hurry, tear

snail

noun \ˈsnā(ə)l\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of SNAIL

: 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

snail

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Any species of gastropod that glides along on a broad tapered foot and has a high coiled shell into which it can withdraw. Snails are found in the ocean, in fresh waters, and on land. Most marine snails have gills in the mantle cavity (see mollusk). Most land and freshwater snails have no gills; they use the mantle cavity itself as a lung. Snails may be either scavengers (of dead plant or animal matter) or predators. Some species are used as food, and the shells of some are used as ornaments. See also limpet, periwinkle, slug, whelk.