snowball

1 of 2

noun

snow·​ball ˈsnō-ˌbȯl 

1

a

: a round mass of snow pressed or rolled together

b

: snow cone

2

: any of several cultivated shrubby viburnums (genus Viburnum) with clusters of white sterile flowers

called also snowball bush

snowball

2 of 2

verb

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

The snowballing growth of the last few years probably cannot continue forever.

—Tamar Lewin

2

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

Synonyms

Verb

• accelerate
• accumulate
• appreciate
• balloon
• boom
• build up
• burgeon
• bourgeon
• climb
• enlarge
• escalate
• expand
• gain
• increase
• mount
• multiply
• mushroom
• proliferate
• rise
• roll up
• spread
• swell
• wax

Examples 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

Noun

Read Next Incredibly rare ‘snowballs’ born at Canada zoo. —Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 23 May 2024

That program, created last year, pegs a borrower's monthly payment to their income, lowering their financial payments, and is designed to fix a pitfall of earlier repayment programs that allowed interest to snowball. —Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 22 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1820, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing snowball

• a snowball's chance in hell
• snowball effect
• snowball fight

Kids 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 verb

1

: to throw snowballs at

2

: to increase or expand at a rapidly accelerating rate

problems snowball when early trouble signs are ignored