as in to increase
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number
the little problems we ignored began to snowball into huge headaches
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of snowball
The online hatred snowballed, with people accusing Rohal and his team of using AI in other parts of the film that were shot entirely practically.
—
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2025
Sometimes that snowballs for a defense.
—Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Sep. 2025
Clicking a bad link or handing over credentials can snowball into long-term consequences.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Sep. 2025
Otherwise the megasystem problem and the uniformity problem will snowball.
—Eric Markowitz, Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for snowball
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2025
Sometimes that snowballs for a defense.
—Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Sep. 2025
Clicking a bad link or handing over credentials can snowball into long-term consequences.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Sep. 2025
Otherwise the megasystem problem and the uniformity problem will snowball.
—Eric Markowitz, Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for snowball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snowball
Verb
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Wild news in the Financial Times this morning, which reports that China has substantially increased energy subsidies for some of its largest data centers in a bid to bolster its position in the global AI race.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
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Rising prices for cars, parts and repairs needed, and medical bills have increased, driving up the price of insurance.—
NPR,
NPR,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The number of foreign residents has risen sharply in recent years, reaching a record 3 percent of the population in 2024, as Tokyo cautiously loosened visa rules for workers in key industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, and caregiving.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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In that appearance, Thilly moonwalked across the floor and performed a backspin before using his allotted five minutes to complain about rising taxes, according to CBS News New York.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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She was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition and underwent emergency surgery, during which doctors removed part of her skull to relieve swelling.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
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Venezuela’s armed forces comprise roughly 109,000 active personnel, but the total number swells when paramilitary and reserve units are included.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The open-source project has been used by millions of scientists in more than 190 countries, accelerating research into diseases previously considered intractable.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
26 Oct. 2025
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Southern China’s tropical to subtropical climate – with heavy rainfall, heat, and humidity – accelerates chemical weathering, while the region’s long history of tectonic and magmatic activity adds further erosion.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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At the end of the game, Alma climbs onto the evac chopper before everything cuts to black.—
Will Borger,
Rolling Stone,
31 Oct. 2025
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The light, fluffy chiffon cake climbs high in the tube pan.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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At the crux of those tensions are a gaping trade imbalance and efforts from the US to ensure its national security against an increasingly assertive China, including by expanding restrictions on China’s access to American high tech, like the advanced semiconductors needed to power AI.—
Betsy Klein,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
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Seeing as how the first tribe swap failed to shake anything up and gave us two more obvious telegraphed votes, the producers decided to blow it all up again and expand back to three tribes.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Snowball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snowball. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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