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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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
Look for slugs and snails feeding on both moss and algae on logs. — Pamm Cooper, Hartford Courant, 8 Nov. 2026 Under Mulch Squash bugs, slugs, snails, and various sorts of grubs prefer cozier hiding places like the thick layers of mulch spread throughout your garden. — Lauren Landers, The Spruce, 6 Nov. 2026 In addition to crowding out other species, the DNR says the snails offer fish little nutritional value. — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026 And those kelp forests are—or were—marvels of diversity, providing a shelter for a wild array of ocean creatures from jeweled top sea snails to barrel-bodied harbor seals. — Joseph Ogilvy, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2026 Holed up in her brutalist home in the Swiss alps with her pet snails, she is approached by a handsome young publisher from New York (Alden Ehrenreich) with the impossible task of convincing her to write another book in her Ripley series. — Alex Jhamb Burns, Vogue, 21 Oct. 2026 The researchers found a population deep in a Japanese mountain valley where left- and right-coiling snails can mate and exchange genes. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snails
  1. slugs
  2. crawls
  3. stragglers
  4. drags
  5. crawlers
  6. creeps
  7. lingerers
  8. pokes
Noun
  • Look for slugs and snails feeding on both moss and algae on logs.
    — Pamm Cooper, Hartford Courant, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Pest control Many common rose pests — including rose slugs, thrips, chilli thrips, and spider mites — pupate in the soil or overwinter in fallen plant debris.
    — Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of slugs
Verb
  • There’s also a less than 10% chance of showers, if one of the hurricanes crawls farther up the coast, according to Wofford.
    — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026
  • 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
Definition of crawls
Noun
  • The daffodils here were almost finished, apart from one little patch of stragglers still flowering on heroically against the odds.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Swarms or stragglers are most likely to be spotted near the Great Lakes shorelines because the lakes help funnel their routes.
    — Sarah Moore, Freep.com, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of stragglers
Verb
  • But if the war drags on and the cost of necessities like gas and groceries continues to rise, that could be a problem.
    — Annie Martin, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2026
  • The research agency, ORF Middle East, said that support for tourism businesses and efforts to restart events could become harder to sustain if the conflict drags on.
    — Inzamam Rashid, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of drags
Noun
  • Many news organizations prevent such crawlers from going through their websites because the crawlers take content without bringing in revenue.
    — Huo Jingnan, NPR, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Dispose of Fall Decorations Seasonal decor like pumpkins and gourds also unintentionally invite an infestation of creepy crawlers.
    — Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of crawlers
Verb
  • As the temperature drops and winter dryness inevitably creeps in, this luxe, delectable formula will serve as your skin savior.
    — Kyra Surgent, InStyle, 4 Nov. 2026
  • The tone creeps into despair as the scales fall from Sutskever’s eyes.
    — E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of creeps
Noun
  • Except for a few lingerers, the vast majority of migratory birds that nested in Georgia during spring and summer are now ensconced in or well on their way to winter grounds in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
    — Charles Seabrook, AJC.com, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The lingerers brought their dirty dishes to the bus tub, wiped their mouths one last time with a napkin, and waved to Cleo, their faces saying, Nice job!
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of lingerers
Verb
  • And yet there’s this piece in the policy which pokes its head [and forces them to find a surrogate in Texas].
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The International Kazoo Championship pokes a little fun at the rigidity of the main stage.
    — David Alm, Longreads, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of pokes

Browse Nearby Words

snail-paced
snails
snake
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Snails.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snails. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

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