- any of numerous terrestrial or freshwater gastropod molluscs with a spirally coiled shell, esp any of the family Helicidae, such as Helix aspersa (garden snail)
- any other gastropod with a spirally coiled shell, such as a whelk
- a slow-moving or lazy person or animal
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
snail /sneɪl/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Invertebratesa soft-bodied, slow-moving animal that lives in a spiral-shaped shell.
- a slow or lazy person.
- at a snail's pace, very slowly:Work was proceeding at a snail's pace.
snail
(snāl),USA pronunciation n.
snail′like′, adj.
- Invertebratesany mollusk of the class Gastropoda, having a spirally coiled shell and a ventral muscular foot on which it slowly glides about.
- a slow or lazy person;
sluggard. - Timea cam having the form of a spiral.
- Dialect Terms[Midwestern and Western U.S.]a sweet roll in spiral form, esp. a cinnamon roll or piece of Danish pastry.
- bef. 900; Middle English snail, snayl(e), Old English snegel; cognate with Low German snagel, German (dialect, dialectal) Schnegel
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
snail /sneɪl/ n
'snail' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
caracole
- cochlea
- cochleate
- conkers
- escargot
- helix
- horn
- love
- retract
- sea snail
- slime
- snail mail
- snail's pace
- snake
- sucker
- volute
- whelk
- Archimedes' screw
- awl snail
- banded Florida tree snail
- ciguatera
- circumvolution
- cone shell
- conker
- decollate snail
- escallop
- escalope
- giant snail
- laeotropic
- land snail
- lig snail
- limacine
- limaçon
- nudibranch
- periwinkle
- tree snail
- water snail
- whelked
- s-mail
- schistosomiasis
- schnecken
- seasnail
- shard
- snail darter
- snail fever
- snailfish
- snailflower
- snail-paced