SNAILS Synonyms: 53 Similar and Opposite Words

snails 1 of 2

noun

plural of snail

as in slugs

someone who moves slowly or more slowly than others go and tell the snails in the back to hurry up

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snails

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of snail

as in crawls

to move slowly the highway construction work created a bottleneck that had cars snailing for the next five miles

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of snails

Noun

At Carter Lake, boat inspection checkpoints are now looking for the snails in addition to other invasive species, such as zebra mussels. — Dillon Thomas, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026 Insects belong to the kingdom Animalia, along with mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, octopuses, snails, jellyfish, worms, and many other groups. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026 Chicks, in particular, eat large quantities of high-protein insect larvae, beetles, flies, snails, spiders and ants. — Tom Huggler, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2026 The slime is highly valued as an anti-inflammatory and anti-aging ingredient in certain skin care products, and snails can secrete different kinds of mucus with properties tailored to specific functions. — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 7 Aug. 2026 There's a protective mucus that the snails use to seal themselves inside their shells in the winter. — Ari Daniel, NPR, 6 Aug. 2026 The lubricating substance allows snails to stick to the ground more easily and travel more smoothly. — Laura Dorwart, Health, 22 July 2026 But SpongeBob is just as unambiguously heroic as Damon’s Odysseus is (even if our favorite burger-flipping tamer of snails requires a gift from a certain daughter of a goddess to find his courage). — Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 21 July 2026 For maximum perks, try applying wool directly around plants that are prone to slugs and snails, such as hostas, dahlias, or cabbage. — Lauren Landers, The Spruce, 20 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for snails

Noun

Remember to bury the container deep enough to let the slugs in and out.

— Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 24 Aug. 2026
Mulch also helps suppress weeds and dissuades strawberry pests like slugs.

— Michelle Mastro, Architectural Digest, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of slugs

Verb

Hairy-nosed wombat births are hard to spot, as after about a 30-day pregnancy, the joey crawls into its mother’s pouch.

— Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 16 Aug. 2026
Researchers have developed a new control framework that enables humanoid robots to perform agile movements, including army crawls, breakdancing and backflips.

— Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of crawls

Noun

Earnings season is winding down, but a few stragglers in the portfolio are still left to report this week.

— Zev Fima, CNBC, 16 Aug. 2026
On the streets below, vendors are hawking bootleg merchandise as stragglers from the festivities color the sidewalks with blue-and-orange jerseys and hats.

— Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of stragglers

Verb

Some of those embassy staff may start returning to their posts soon, however the State Department is still limiting the number of personnel in the Middle East as the war in Iran drags on.

— Greg Dixon, NPR, 21 Aug. 2026
But after years of unprecedented contributions to astronomy, the forces governing the cosmos are finally taking their toll as Earth’s gravitational pull slowly drags the telescope closer towards a point of no return.

— Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of drags

Noun

Everyone took the Meta keyword tag seriously and the practice of utilizing ‘white text on a white background’ to hide hidden keywords was a legitimate tactic that webmasters would use to include keywords in their website for search engine crawlers.

— Alan Bradley, ArsTechnica, 7 Aug. 2026
The website security provider helps companies protect against AI crawlers.

— Jim Cramer, CNBC, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of crawlers

Verb

With those sessions behind the team, the season creeps closer.

— Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2026
The polarizing quarterback will start Cleveland's exhibition opener at Chicago on Saturday — his first game action since 2024 — and Shedeur Sanders will play in the second half as the Browns' QB competition creeps toward a conclusion.

— ABC News, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of creeps

Verb

Even in the bathrooms, the toilet and bidet are concealed inside a kind of Travertine bench and the showerhead pokes out from a monolithic stone slab.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Aug. 2026
This is strong language, which pokes at our tribal memory of gasoline shortages from the 1970’s.

— George Calhoun, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026

Definition of pokes

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snail-paced

snails

snake

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“Snails.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snails. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of snails

noun

verb

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