as in increases
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 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
Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
Sometimes that snowballs for a defense.
—Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snowballs
Verb
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PlayStation consoles rely on a type of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips, which are in short supply as demand from artificial intelligence and data center operators increases.—
Dylan Butts,
CNBC,
5 Feb. 2026
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However, stacking many layers increases the electrical contact resistance at their interfaces, which leads to energy losses and limits overall efficiency, as per the release.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As anxiety rises, so does our need for self-care.—
Stefanie Groner,
Glamour,
4 Feb. 2026
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When the temperature rises to more than single digits, the Earth might burn up!—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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No matter the chapter, no matter the group, in London everything swells together like a great Brazilian monochromatic gumbo.—
Theo Lloyd-Hughes,
New York Times,
1 Feb. 2026
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There will be large waves and swells along the entire stretch from New England to the Carolinas.—
Terry Eliasen,
CBS News,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
By streamlining the training pipeline, Dobot’s approach accelerates data acquisition, facilitates faster model development, and reduces the time from training to deployment, thereby lowering both time and operational costs.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Feb. 2026
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The eclipse in your sign accelerates your reinvention process, but impatience can trigger unnecessary conflict.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The refuge is at the end of a 25-mile-long rutted dirt road that climbs through a shadowy forest of pine and spruce, punctuated by the sparkle of the occasional stream or meadow.—
Michael Pollan,
The Atlantic,
26 Jan. 2026
-
American climber Alex Honnold climbs Taipei 101 building by hand.—
Yuliya Talmazan,
NBC news,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Snowballs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snowballs. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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