as in to increase
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number
the little problems we ignored began to snowball into huge headaches
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of snowball
Major problems arising from hallucinating AI coding software could snowball into catastrophe at many other firms as well.
—
Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 19 Mar. 2026
When traffic is unpredictable, and everyone’s on edge, small mistakes can snowball quickly.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 12 Mar. 2026
While air traffic controllers are not directly involved in the latest funding spat, the previous shutdown reveals how travel disruptions can quickly snowball.
—Jackson Shedelbower, Oc Register, 11 Mar. 2026
Here’s a player who got injured and saw his velocity dip, and then the struggles snowballed.
—Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for snowball
Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 19 Mar. 2026
When traffic is unpredictable, and everyone’s on edge, small mistakes can snowball quickly.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 12 Mar. 2026
While air traffic controllers are not directly involved in the latest funding spat, the previous shutdown reveals how travel disruptions can quickly snowball.
—Jackson Shedelbower, Oc Register, 11 Mar. 2026
Here’s a player who got injured and saw his velocity dip, and then the struggles snowballed.
—Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for snowball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snowball
Verb
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Farmers had hoped to compensate for last year's losses, when farm bankruptcies increased for the second year in a row.—
Lana Zak,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
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The goal is to complete the project ahead of the FIFA World Cup, when traffic and pedestrian activity are expected to increase downtown.—
Tiffani Jackson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In the meantime, the Bay Area will stay dry on Thursday with a notable warming trend as temperatures rise back into the 80s across the interior, with a more muted warmup (into the 70s) closer to the water.—
Greg Porter,
San Francisco Chronicle,
26 Mar. 2026
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Tensions rose, neighbors said, to the point that King was heard at times swearing at Kirsten Wells as well as others using vulgar epithets.—
Laura Bauer,
Kansas City Star,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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From there, the Hornets’ advantage continued to swell with little Nets resistance, outside of a Minott flagrant foul early in the fourth quarter in a 27-point game.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
1 Apr. 2026
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March 13 More than 300 TSA workers have resigned about a month into the partial government shutdown, DHS says, as employees miss their first full paycheck and callout rates swell.—
Graham Hurley,
CNN Money,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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At the height of the pandemic — when learning loss was accelerating and reading gaps were widening — the approval process was estimated to take six months to a year.—
Daniel L Gordon,
Daily News,
29 Mar. 2026
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In the long term, the supply shock may accelerate nuclear restarts and electric vehicle adoption faster than years of climate policy ever managed.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In 2024, Contra Costa County investigators searched a ravine and found the ladder Matthew Muller described using to climb into a family's house weeks after the March 2015 attack on Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn.—
Lauren Clark,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
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And Friday’s loss pushed the Heat even further away from climbing out of the play-in tournament.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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With the 2026 midterms approaching, sustained voter unease could reshape the broader electoral map and complicate Republican efforts to hold or expand their congressional margins.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
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But the department is looking to expand its authority.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Snowball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snowball. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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