snail

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /sneɪl/ See IPA manual

Freq #13563

Meanings

1

noun
A small slow-moving animal with a soft body and a spiral shell on its back.

A snail crawled slowly across the wet leaf.
2

verb
To move or travel very slowly.

The cars snailed along the motorway during rush hour.
3

noun
An edible land snail, usually served cooked in its shell with garlic butter.

At the French restaurant, she ordered snails for the first time.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 noun · an edible land snail,... escargot

Word family

Forms snails

Derived forms ambersnailhousesnailmicrosnailmudsnailpebblesnailrocksnailseasnailslugsnailsnail-mailsnail-pacedsnail-wheelsnailase

Related forms helicicultureslug

From Middle English snayl, snail, from the Old English sneġel, from Proto-Germanic *snagilaz. Cognate with Low German Snagel, Snâel, Snâl (“snail”), German Schnegel (“slug”). Compare also Old Norse snigill, from Proto-Germanic *snigilaz.

snayl Middle English sneġel Old English *snagilaz Proto-Germanic

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Describing Qualities

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# snail

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /sneɪl/
**Frequency rank:** 13563

## Meanings
1. A small slow-moving animal with a soft body and a spiral shell on its back.
2. To move or travel very slowly.
3. An edible land snail, usually served cooked in its shell with garlic butter.

## Examples
- A snail crawled slowly across the wet leaf.
- The cars snailed along the motorway during rush hour.
- At the French restaurant, she ordered snails for the first time.

## Derived Forms
- ambersnail
- housesnail
- microsnail
- mudsnail
- pebblesnail
- rocksnail
- seasnail
- slugsnail
- snail-mail
- snail-paced
- snail-wheel
- snailase

## Related Forms
- heliciculture
- slug

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: snayl
- Root: sneġel
- Root: *snagilaz

## Etymology
From Middle English snayl, snail, from the Old English sneġel, from Proto-Germanic *snagilaz. Cognate with Low German Snagel, Snâel, Snâl (“snail”), German Schnegel (“slug”). Compare also Old Norse snigill, from Proto-Germanic *snigilaz.

## AI Etymology
Snail is from Middle English snayl, snail, from the Old English sneġel, from Proto-Germanic *snagilaz. Cognate with Low German Snagel, Snâel, Snâl (“snail”), German Schnegel (“slug”). Compare also Old Norse snigill, from Proto-Germanic *snigilaz. In present-day use, it can mean a small slow-moving animal with a soft body and a spiral shell on its back, or to move or travel very slowly. Related forms include heliciculture, slug. Derived formations include ambersnail, housesnail, microsnail, mudsnail, pebblesnail.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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snail

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