snowball

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

Examples of snowball in a Sentence

This snow is perfect for making snowballs.

Recent Examples on the Web

But these little small pacts start to snowball. —Sarah Rodman, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026

With a team that is proving there's no business like snowball business. —Jori Parys, CBS News, 8 June 2026

The fees keep growing, and the snowball keeps rolling. —Gary Singer, Sun Sentinel, 28 May 2026

Moore adds that these small cleaning tasks might even alleviate the snowball of multiple tasks with a more significant chunk of time. —Rebecca Jones, Southern Living, 27 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

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

Phrases Containing snowball

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

Rhymes for snowball

• aldol
• armhole
• atoll
• awol
• backhaul
• banal
• baseball
• befall
• cabal
• catchall
• cecal
• centrale

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