1
a
: a round mass of snow pressed or rolled together
b
2
: any of several cultivated shrubby viburnums (genus Viburnum) with clusters of white sterile flowers
called also snowball bush
snowballed; snowballing; snowballs
1
intransitive
: to increase, accumulate, expand, or multiply at a rapidly accelerating rate
a trend that has begun to snowball
It was one of those games in which things just snowballed and kept getting worse for Philly …—
Paul Zimmerman
Paul ZimmermanThe snowballing growth of the last few years probably cannot continue forever.—Tamar Lewin
Tamar Lewin2
transitive
: to attack with snowballs : to throw snowballs at
Any man so unwise as to walk alone by day was apt to be set upon and snowballed …—Fritz Leiber
Fritz LeiberExamples of snowball in a Sentence
Noun
This snow is perfect for making snowballs.
Verb
Problems snowball when early trouble signs are ignored.
What started as a small annual concert has snowballed into a full-fledged music festival.
consumers dealing with snowballing debt
Recent Examples on the Web
Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
After Kansas City’s 27-24 win, Bills supporters showered Kansas City’s players with snowballs, many of them frozen solid.
—Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 30 Oct. 2025
Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
Building momentum and snowballing your income is always satisfying.
—Griff Griffin, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for snowball
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Noun
The ingredients of an interstellar comet Comets are like dirty snowballs left over from the formation of solar systems.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
After Kansas City’s 27-24 win, Bills supporters showered Kansas City’s players with snowballs, many of them frozen solid.
—Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
As Alverson and his clients entered more and more pageants, his acclaim snowballed.
—Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
Building momentum and snowballing your income is always satisfying.
—Griff Griffin, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for snowball
Cite this Entry
“Snowball.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snowball. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
snowball
1 of 2 noun
snow·ball
ˈsnō-ˌbȯl 
1
: a round mass of snow pressed or rolled together
2
: a viburnum widely grown for its ball-shaped clusters of white flowers
called also snowball bush
snowball
2 of 2 verb1
: to throw snowballs at
2
: to increase or expand at a rapidly accelerating rate
problems snowball when early trouble signs are ignored
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