as in increased
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number
the little problems we ignored began to snowball into huge headaches
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Recent Examples of snowballed
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
What began as a seasonal special has snowballed into a billion-dollar phenomenon, with copycats and competitors scrambling to ride the wave of fall flavors.
—Lanee Lee, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Hours later, the scandal snowballed after Bloomberg published a trove of emails between Mandelson and Epstein, in which Mandelson expressed support for his friend and offered to discuss his infamous 2008 Florida case with his political contacts.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025
What started as a shoestring campus operation snowballed into a right-wing powerhouse.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2025
What began in January with an executive order mandating federal workers to return in-person has snowballed, with firms from Amazon to JP Morgan following suit.
—Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 8 Sep. 2025
Other discipline errors snowballed after that.
—Jesse Newell, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025
The tentative reunion quickly snowballed into a full tour and, now, Sublime’s first new music in nearly 30 years.
—Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
The ongoing comparison of the two turned into an internet frenzy that snowballed into lyrical jabs and shade across interviews and social media.
—Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2025
What began as a seasonal special has snowballed into a billion-dollar phenomenon, with copycats and competitors scrambling to ride the wave of fall flavors.
—Lanee Lee, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Hours later, the scandal snowballed after Bloomberg published a trove of emails between Mandelson and Epstein, in which Mandelson expressed support for his friend and offered to discuss his infamous 2008 Florida case with his political contacts.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025
What started as a shoestring campus operation snowballed into a right-wing powerhouse.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2025
What began in January with an executive order mandating federal workers to return in-person has snowballed, with firms from Amazon to JP Morgan following suit.
—Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 8 Sep. 2025
Other discipline errors snowballed after that.
—Jesse Newell, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025
The tentative reunion quickly snowballed into a full tour and, now, Sublime’s first new music in nearly 30 years.
—Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
The ongoing comparison of the two turned into an internet frenzy that snowballed into lyrical jabs and shade across interviews and social media.
—Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snowballed
Verb
-
At low concentrations, adsorption increased gradually, typical of monolayer adsorption, where molecules form a single layer on the surface.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Oct. 2025
-
While global life expectancy is up, youth and young adult mortality rates increased between 2011 and 2023, according to the report.—
Angelica Stabile,
FOXNews.com,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The crowd in Carlsbad swelled — estimates ranged from 7,000 to 10,000 — with sidewalks packed over a roughly mile-long stretch of Carlsbad Boulevard north from about Tamarack Avenue through Carlsbad Village.—
Kristen Taketa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Oct. 2025
-
When torrential rains hit a swath of Mexico last week, the Cazones River swelled so fast there was virtually no time to flee.—
Cristopher Rogel Blanquet,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Al-Sudani, who rose to power after that upheaval, insisted his government had taken tangible steps to restore public trust, such as economic progress and political stability.—
Emma Graham,
CNBC,
15 Oct. 2025
-
Odinga first rose to prominence as a political activist fighting against the one-party rule of President Daniel arap Moi in the 1980s.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Meanwhile, improved biodetection and biodefense technologies, accelerated by genome writing efforts, will enhance global health while better protecting us from the next outbreak or pandemic.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
20 Oct. 2025
-
But if anything, the restrictions only accelerated his activism.—
Time,
Time,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The debut of gym-style competition climbing in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics further expanded the sport’s visibility, bringing powerhouse women climbers like Janja Garnbret and Brooke Raboutou to the global stage.—
Kelli María Korducki,
HubSpot,
17 Oct. 2025
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Once a single dining room, the space has expanded to include six separate rooms and a full-service bar, totaling 13,000 square feet.—
Alana Al-Hatlani,
Southern Living,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Sales of non-strategic cards and collectible stickers climbed by $565 million, or 156%, to $925 million in the same period, Circana said.—
Luke Fountain,
CNBC,
18 Oct. 2025
-
In hot spots like Mission Bay, near OpenAI’s headquarters, rents climbed 13% recently.—
Nino Paoli,
Fortune,
18 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Snowballed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snowballed. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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