snowballs

verb

present tense third-person singular of snowball
as in increases
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number the little problems we ignored began to snowball into huge headaches

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 snowballs That metaphysical connection soon snowballs into a mounting existential threat when Mia (Sophie Wilde) allows her best friend's eager little brother to have one round with the hand, after which his body is never the same. — Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025 Sometimes that snowballs for a defense. — Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Sep. 2025 That then snowballs into a full-length feature Hollywood horror film. — Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Feb. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snowballs
  1. increases
  2. rises
  3. swells
  4. accelerates
  5. climbs
Verb
  • Airport officials say the new design increases the distance between the terminal and the nearest runway, currently as little as 257 feet, soon to be about 880 feet, bringing the airport into compliance with FAA standards.
    — Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026
  • Firejet production also increases Beyond collaborative combat aircraft, the expansion will increase production of Kratos’ Firejet family of aerial target systems.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 7 July 2026
Definition of increases
Verb
  • The probability of lightning strikes rises as a thunderstorm approaches and peaks when the storm is directly above.
    — NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 8 July 2026
  • As cyber insecurity rises and trust declines, protecting brand perception becomes a critical, measurable part of managing operational risk.
    — Jon Michail, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
Definition of rises
Verb
  • Top officials appear as the crowd size swells Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shiite cleric, led the prayers at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla mosque for the late Khamenei and family members killed in the strike.
    — Nasser Karimi, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026
  • Most people only hear about it when a lymph node swells during a cold, or when a social media video promises a gua sha stone will detox their face.
    — Allison Palmer, Charlotte Observer, 29 June 2026
Definition of swells
Verb
  • That’s especially important for farmers because nitrogen fertilizers serve as a key nutrient for crops that accelerates growth and enhances yields during harvest, Sumner added.
    — Chase Hunter, Boston Herald, 6 July 2026
  • Chinese equipment manufacturer Zoomlion has unveiled five new-energy technology achievements spanning construction, mining, and agricultural machinery, as the company accelerates its shift toward low-emission heavy equipment.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 3 July 2026
Definition of accelerates
Verb
  • The Future Nostalgia smash climbs on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl.
    — Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • The girl's mother, Elizabeth Kale, said Cecelia climbs trees every day.
    — Kelli Arseneau, USA Today, 1 July 2026
Definition of climbs

Browse Nearby Words

snowballing
snowballs
snowbank
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Snowballs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snowballs. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on snowballs

Nglish: Translation of snowballs for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All