snail

C1 Topic:Animals

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.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

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

Word family

Forms snails

Derived forms ambersnailhousesnailmicrosnailmudsnailpebblesnailrocksnailseasnailslugsnailsnail-mailsnail-pacedsnail-wheelsnailase

Related forms helicicultureslug

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

snail mail
an informal term for physically delivered postal mail

Noun + noun

Tongue twisters (1)

See all

Six Slippery Snails
Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.

Move directly from /s/ into /l/ in slippery, slid and slowly, and into /n/ in snails. Avoid inserting an extra vowel into those clusters.

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.

snayl Middle English sneġel Old English *snagilaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals Gardening & Horticulture

External links

# 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
- Animals
- Gardening & Horticulture

markdown