snail

Meaning

Noun

1. Any of very many animals (either hermaphroditic or nonhermaphroditic), of the class Gastropoda, having a coiled shell.
2. (broadly, informal) A slow person; a sluggard.
3. A spiral cam, or a flat piece of metal of spirally curved outline, used for giving motion to, or changing the position of, another part, as the hammer tail of a striking clock.
4. (historical) A tortoise or testudo; a movable roof or shed to protect besiegers.
5. The pod of the snail clover.
6. A locomotive with a prime mover but no traction motors, used to provide extra electrical power to another locomotive.

Verb

To move or travel very slowly.

Synonyms

slug

escargot

helix

pond snail

spiral shell

shellfish

conch

mollusk

screw

seashell

sloth

🦥

slowcoach

sluggard

snail-shell

winkle

sea slug

slug-abed

nudibranch

buccinum

mollusk

at sign

mollusc

cochlea

freshwater

hermit crab

humming

marine

mollusc

Translations

escargot

🐌

caracol

🐌

Schnecke

🐌

chiocciola

🐌

slak

🐌

lumaca

caracol

🐌

cochlea

🐌

huisjesslak

🐌

limaçon

🐌

cargol

σαλιγκάρι

salyangoz

🐌

caramujo

🐌

Pronounced as (IPA)

/sneɪl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: snaile

Inherited from Old English: sneġel

Cognate with Low German: Snagel

Cognate with German: Schnegel

Cognate with Old Norse: snigill

In summary

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.