snowball effect
noun
: a situation in which one action or event causes many other similar actions or events
The city hopes that these improvements will have a snowball effect and spur private investment in the community.
Examples of snowball effect in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Mobile started a snowball effect, and by 2000 the restaurant started a small-scale catering operation.
—
Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 6 Mar. 2024
The snowball effect led to Richie enlisting good friend Quincy Jones to produce, Jones contacting Michael Jackson to help write the song with Richie, and Harry Belafonte sparking the idea to funnel proceeds from the single to benefit starvation in Africa.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 20 Jan. 2024
Some scientists fear the decline is now so extreme that humanity has lost control of what is now an unavoidable snowball effect.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 24 Jan. 2024
In a snowball effect, small victories today can lead to greater victories tomorrow.
—Richard Katz, Foreign Affairs, 31 Jan. 2024
One of his articles showed up in the New York Times and created a snowball effect.
—Marcia Simon, Hartford Courant, 7 Jan. 2024
Love was the theme for our wedding and that love had a snowball effect.
—Alexandra MacOn, Vogue, 13 Oct. 2023
And at depots, where students transfer from one bus to another, buses were held up by late arrivals, creating a snowball effect affecting the rest of the route.
—Krista Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 19 Aug. 2023
This uses time to make money grow faster, thanks to a snowball effect.
—Medora Lee, USA TODAY, 9 Aug. 2023
Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 6 Mar. 2024
The snowball effect led to Richie enlisting good friend Quincy Jones to produce, Jones contacting Michael Jackson to help write the song with Richie, and Harry Belafonte sparking the idea to funnel proceeds from the single to benefit starvation in Africa.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 20 Jan. 2024
Some scientists fear the decline is now so extreme that humanity has lost control of what is now an unavoidable snowball effect.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 24 Jan. 2024
In a snowball effect, small victories today can lead to greater victories tomorrow.
—Richard Katz, Foreign Affairs, 31 Jan. 2024
One of his articles showed up in the New York Times and created a snowball effect.
—Marcia Simon, Hartford Courant, 7 Jan. 2024
Love was the theme for our wedding and that love had a snowball effect.
—Alexandra MacOn, Vogue, 13 Oct. 2023
And at depots, where students transfer from one bus to another, buses were held up by late arrivals, creating a snowball effect affecting the rest of the route.
—Krista Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 19 Aug. 2023
This uses time to make money grow faster, thanks to a snowball effect.
—Medora Lee, USA TODAY, 9 Aug. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'snowball effect.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near snowball effect
Cite this Entry
“Snowball effect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snowball%20effect. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
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