Definition of snail
1 : a gastropod mollusk especially when having an external enclosing spiral shell
2 : a slow-moving or sluggish person or thing
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Examples of snail in a Sentence
go and tell the snails in the back to hurry up
Origin and Etymology of snail
Middle English, from Old English snægl; akin to Old High German snecko snail, snahhan to creep
First Known Use: before 12th century
snail
Definition of snail
intransitive verb
: to move, act, or go slowly or lazily
Examples of snail in a Sentence
the highway construction work created a bottleneck that had cars snailing for the next five miles
1582
First Known Use of snail
1582
SNAIL Defined for English Language Learners
snail
playDefinition of snail for English Language Learners
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: a small animal that lives in a shell that it carries on its back, that moves very slowly, and that can live in water or on land
SNAIL Defined for Kids
snail
playDefinition of snail for Students
: a small slow-moving mollusk that has a spiral shell into which it can draw itself for safety and that can live either on land or in water
Medical Dictionary
snail
playMedical 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
Learn More about snail
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See words that rhyme with snail Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for snail Spanish Central: Translation of snail Nglish: Translation of snail for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of snail for Arabic speakers
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