Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Snail |
SnailNoun1. Freshwater or marine or terrestrial gastropod mollusk usually having an external enclosing spiral shell. 2. Edible terrestrial snail usually served in the shell with a sauce of melted butter and garlic. Verb1. Gather snails: "We went snailing in the summer". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "snail" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | Snail vt. To snail-mail something. "Snail me a copy of those graphics, will you?". Source: Jargon File. |
Bible | Snail (1.) Heb. homit, among the unclean creeping things (Lev. 11:30). This was probably the sand-lizard, of which there are many species in the wilderness of Judea and the Sinai peninsula. (2.) Heb. shablul (Ps. 58:8), the snail or slug proper. Tristram explains the allusions of this passage by a reference to the heat and drought by which the moisture of the snail is evaporated. "We find," he says, "in all parts of the Holy Land myriads of snail-shells in fissures still adhering by the calcareous exudation round their orifice to the surface of the rock, but the animal of which is utterly shrivelled and wasted, 'melted away.'" Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. |
Dream Interpretation | Snails crawling in your dream, signifies that unhealthful conditions surround you. To step on them, denotes that you will come in contact with disagreeable people. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The name snail applies to most members of the mollusc class Gastropoda, which have coiled shellss. Other gastropods, which lack conspicuous shells, are called slugs, and are scattered throughout groups that primarily include snails. Snails are found in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial environments.
Snails move like worms by alternating body contractions with stretching, with a proverbially low speed (hence the term snail mail for postal services). They produce a slime in order to aid locomotion by reducing friction. The slime also reduces the snail's risk of injury and helps keep away potentially dangerous insects like ants. In winter some snail species hibernate in their shells by closing the opening with a thin shell-like plate that they build only for this use and destroy in spring. Even some slug species build a shell-like object below their upper skin.
Snails are eaten in several countries of Europe - "escargot" in France, for instance - where they are considered a delicacy.
The best know for the edible snail is ''Helix pomatia’’. The brown garden snail(European brown snail) has another name, ''Helix aspersa’’. Both species belongs to the Genus Helix.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Snail."
Synonym: SnailSynonym: escargot (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Slowness | Slow goer, slow coach, slow back; lingerer, loiterer, sluggard, tortoise, snail; poke; dawdle; (inactive). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Snail |
| English words defined with "snail": circumvolute, Cochleated, corkscrew flower ♦ Dodman ♦ escargot ♦ family Helicidae ♦ Glass-snail ♦ Helicidae, Helicoid, Helix hortensis ♦ Ianthina ♦ Land snail, Lim naea, Looping snail ♦ Paludina, periwinkle, Phaseolus caracalla, Pouch-shell, Prosopulmonata ♦ River snail ♦ snail bean, Snail clover, snail flower, Snail shell, snailflower, Snail-like, Snail-paced, Stylommatophora ♦ Vigna caracalla, Violet shell ♦ Water snail, whelk, winkle. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "snail": Calcium Channels, R-Type, commercial at ♦ omega-Conotoxin GVIA ♦ papermail, paper-net, play by electronic mail ♦ RedNet Ltd., Rosey cannibal snail ♦ Schistosoma japonicum, Schistosoma mansoni. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "snail": Escargatoire. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor (Apocalypse Now; writing credit: John Milius ; Francis Ford Coppola) | |
Lyrics | Has gotten me to the point, I'm like a snail (Lose Yourself; performing artist: EMINEM) I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail (EL CONDOR PASA (IF I COULD); performing artist: Simon and Garfunkel) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Snail (1918) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
Snail Room, CDC Animal Quarters. Credit: CDC. | ![]() | A new species of snail fish discovered by Joe Eastman. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. | |
![]() | North Inlet - Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Cordgrass plant nearly covered at high tide. Note the periwinkle snail, Littorina irrorata, that has climbed high on the grass blade and avoided being covered by the tide. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR). | ![]() | Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The Mud Snail, Batillaria attramentaria, is abundant on soft mud or high intertidal zones of quiet bays and estuaries from Boundary Bay, British Columbia, to Elkhorn Slough, California . The shell is long, slender, and about 35mm long. It was introduced from Japan to the U.S. and is common where Japanese oysters were planted. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR). |
![]() | Flamingo tongue snail on a sea fan close-up. Credit: The Coral Kingdom. | Macro shot of a snail. Credit: Carol Kauder. | |
Rogue River - Snail on Rogue River trail. Credit: Unknown. | Closeup shot of snail. Credit: John Craig. | ||
![]() | Snail culture room, used in the study of tropical diseases, National Institute of Health. Credit: National Library of Medicine. | ![]() | Lady with pet snail and man with sidewhiskers walking a sheep. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Snail" by Jonas Funk Johannessen Commentary: "Close up of snail." | "Snail" by Christian Simon Commentary: "A snail in moss." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Charles H. Spurgeon | By perseverance the snail reached the ark. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Alice in Wonderland | Carroll, Lewis | Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | I likewise broke my right shin against the shell of a snail, which I happened to stumble over, as I was walking alone, and thinking on poor England |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | These larvae swim in the water in search of a certain species of aquatic snail. (references) | |
Larvae are generally infective for 24 hours once they are released from the snail. (references) | ||
New, slightly larger larvae, called cercariae, are released from the snail into the water. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Snail" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 97.24% of the time. "Snail" is used about 254 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 97.24% | 247 | 18,964 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.18% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 0.79% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 0.79% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 254 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "snail": Apple snail ♦ brown snail ♦ cinnamon snail ♦ Ear snail ♦ Edible snail ♦ garden snail ♦ Land snail ♦ Looping snail ♦ pond snail ♦ river snail ♦ Rosey cannibal snail ♦ sea snail ♦ snail bean ♦ snail borer ♦ snail butter ♦ snail clover ♦ snail darter ♦ snail flower ♦ snail mail ♦ snail medic ♦ snail shell ♦ snail trefoil ♦ snail wheel ♦ violet snail ♦ water snail. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "snail": snail-life, Snail-like, snail-mail, Snail-paced, snail-proof, snail-shaped, snail-shell, snail-slow, snail-trailing. | |
Ending with "snail": anti-snail, Glass-snail, salt-snail. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
snail | 1,135 | mail pal snail | 21 |
snail mail pen pal | 181 | silver snail | 20 |
snail mail | 91 | cone snail | 20 |
snail picture | 74 | snail eggs | 20 |
apple snail | 56 | mancala snail | 20 |
aquarium snail | 54 | food snail | 18 |
sea snail | 40 | fresh snail water | 17 |
snail farming | 39 | snail reproduction | 17 |
land snail | 39 | snail snips | 17 |
eat snail | 39 | pal pen snail | 17 |
snail and slug | 38 | snail mail sweepstake | 17 |
a snail pace | 31 | snail vine | 15 |
pond snail | 30 | snail information | 15 |
garden snail | 29 | archive snail | 15 |
gary snail | 28 | kill snail | 13 |
moon snail | 28 | snail breeding | 13 |
freshwater snail | 26 | turbo snail | 13 |
snail water | 23 | as pet snail | 13 |
mystery snail | 21 | bait snail | 12 |
pet snail | 21 | ramshorn snail | 12 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "snail"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | përtac (dangler, dawdler, do nothing, do-naught, faineant, good for nothing, idle, Idler, indolent, lazy, moocher, ne'er do well, otiose, poke, slacker, slothful, sluggard, sundowner, swabber, truant, twiddler), kërmill (cochlea, conch, slug). (various references) | |
Arabic | حلزون (helix, spiral, whelk), الكسول (lazy, lazy-bones, loafer, shirker, slowpoke). (various references) | |
Aymara | ch'uru. (various references) | |
Basque | barraskilo. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | охлюв (cochlea, helix), муден човек (laggard, slowcoach, slowpoke), бавен човек (slowcoach, stick in the mud), плужек (slug). (various references) | |
Catalan | cargol (screw). (various references) | |
Chamorro | akaleha'. (various references) | |
Chinese | 螺 (screw), 螄 , 蜗牛 (Snails), 蝓 , 蝸牛 . (various references) | |
Czech | hlemýžï, hlemýžď, šnek (scroll, worm). (various references) | |
Danish | snegl (auger, auger conveyor, conveying screw, feed screw, screw, screw conveyor, scroll, spiral conveyor, spiral-auger conveyor, worm, worm-type conveyor). (various references) | |
Dutch | huisjesslak, slak (cinder, slug). (various references) | |
Esperanto | heliko. (various references) | |
Faeroese | snigil (slug), kúvingur, gágga. (various references) | |
Farsi | نرم تن صدف دار (Shellfish), لیسک , وقت تلف کردن (Idle), انسان یاحیوان تنبل وکندرو, بشکل مارپیچ جلورفتن . (various references) | |
Finnish | etana (slug). (various references) | |
French | escargot, limaçon. (various references) | |
German | Schnecke (auger, cochlea, endless screw, escargot, scroll, slug, spiral staircase, volute, worm). (various references) | |
Greek | σαλιγκάρι (grapevine snail, large garden snail). (various references) | |
Hebrew | שבלול (cochlear, mussel, slug, spiral), חלזון (gastropod, slug, worm). (various references) | |
Hungarian | csiga (auger, pulley, tangent screw). (various references) | |
Indonesian | siput (crustacean, slug), keong, gondang (slug). (various references) | |
Irish | seilide (slug). (various references) | |
Italian | chiocciola (atpersand). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 蝸牛 , 舞舞 , 巻貝 (spiral shell), 巻き貝 (spiral shell), エコロジー運動 (ecological movement, Edison, ego, egotism, egotist, egotistic, Egypt, Esaki diode, escalate, escalation, escalator, escalope, ESCAP, Eskimo, sado-masochism, Save Our Souls, science fiction, SF, shallot, sister, sketch, Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, SOS). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | まきがい (spiral shell), まいまい (always, each time, frequently), でんでんむし, かぎゅう, かたつむり, エスカルゴ . (various references) | |
Korean | 달팽이 (Snails). (various references) | |
Manx | strammag, lhummag, crammag. (various references) | |
Maya | uul. (various references) | |
Occitan | cagaraula. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ailsnay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | caracol (caracole, caracul, coil, curl, helix). (various references) | |
Romanian | spiralã (convolution, curl, helix, spiral, spire, volute, winding), melc (slug, worm, worm-screw). (various references) | |
Romansch | serp. (various references) | |
Russian | улитка (cochlea). (various references) | |
Scottish | seilcheag (a snail). (various references) | |
Sepedi | kgohu. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zavojnica u satu, puž. (various references) | |
Shona | hozhwe. (various references) | |
Spanish | caracol (seashell, Winkle). (various references) | |
Sranan | pakro. (various references) | |
Swazi | um-nenkhé. (various references) | |
Swedish | snigel (slug), snäcka (fusee, periwinkle, scroll, shell, worm), skalsnigel. (various references) | |
Thai | หอยทาก. (various references) | |
Turkish | salyangoz dişli çarkı (snail wheel), salyangoz (escargot, helix, Winkle), sümüklüböcek (crawler, helix, slug), yavaş hareket eden kimse, uyuşuk tip (do-little, poke, slowcoach, slowpoke, stick in the mud). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | слимак (slug), равлик (argonaut), тихохід. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | con sên người chậm như sên, con ốc sên. (various references) | |
Welsh | malwoden. (various references) | |
Yucatec | urich. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | kokhlias. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | cocleam. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Leviticus Chapter 11, Verse 30 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Mugalh kai camailewn kai kalabwthV kai saura kai aspalax |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Migale et cameleon et stelio ac lacerta et talpa |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | A mygal, `that is a beeste born trecherows to bigile, and moost gloterous, a camelion, `that is a beeste varyed in to diuerse colours, after diuerse lokingis, and a stellioun, `that is a werme depeyntid as with sterris, and a lacert, `that is a serpent that is clepid a liserd, and a moldwerp. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | The hedgehogge, stellio, the licerte, the snayle and the moule. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And the ferret and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And the ferret and the land crocodile and the lizard and the sand-lizard and the chameleon. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Leviticus Chapter 11, Verse 30 |
| Cebuano | Ug ang tuko, ug ang banghitaw, ug ang taluto, ug ang tabili, ug ang chameleon. |
| Chinese | 壁 虎 、 龍 子 、 守 宮 、 蛇 醫 、 蝘 蜓 . |
| Croatian | zidni macaklin, kameleon, daždevnjak, zelembaæ i tinšamet. |
| Danish | Anakaen, Koadyret, Letåen, Homedyret og Tinsjemetdyret. |
| Dutch | En de zwijnegel, en de krokodil, en de hagedis, en de slak, en de mol; |
| Finnish | anaka-eläin, kooah-eläin, letaa-eläin, hoomet-eläin ja kameleontti. |
| French | le hérisson, la grenouille, la tortue, le limaçon et le caméléon. |
| German | der Igel, der Molch, die Eidechse, die Blindschleiche und der Maulwurf; |
| Haitian Creole | zandolit, soud, mabouya, gongolo, aganman. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | dan bingkarung dan tokeh dan kubin dan unam dan mondok. |
| Italian | il toporagno, la lucertola, il geco, il ramarro, il camaleonte. |
| Maori | Me te koka, me te korokotaera, me te mokomoko, me te moeone, me te kamiriona. |
| Norwegian | og pinnsvinet og jordrotten og padden og sneglen og kameleonen*. # <* Betydningen av de hebraiske navn er usikker.> |
| Portuguese | o musaranho, o crocodilo da água, a lagartixa, o lagarto e a toupeira. |
| Rumanian | ariciul, broasca, broasca yestoasq, melcul wi cameleonul. |
| Russian | БОБЛБ, ИБНЕМЕПО, МЕФББ, ИПНЕФ Й ФЙОЫЕНЕФ, -- |
| Swedish | anakan, koadjuret, letaan, hometdjuret och kameleonten. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "snail": snailed, snailing, snaillike, snails. (additional references) | |
| |
"Snail" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Esnal, Nsai, nsaid, Nsais, sais, sanal, Sanel, sanhailt, sanil, sanilav, Sanjib, Sanjiv, savile, scail, seail, senial, sinal, Sincil, skail, smali, snaa, snaid, snaily, snair, snaiv, snal, snale, snaok, snau, snazi, snil, snool, snuil, spail, swail. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "snail" (pronounced snā"l) |
| 3 | -n ā" l | nail. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: anils, nails, slain. | |
| Words within the letters "a-i-l-n-s" | |
-1 letter: ails, ains, anil, anis, lain, lins, nail, nils, sail, sain, sial. | |
-2 letters: ail, ain, ais, als, ani, ins, las, lin, lis, nil, sal, sin. | |
-3 letters: ai, al, an, as, in, is, la, li, na, si. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-i-l-n-s" | |
+1 letter: ablins, algins, aliens, aligns, alines, aloins, anvils, blains, elains, finals, inlays, instal, island, lanais, lapins, lasing, lianas, lianes, liangs, ligans, limans, linacs, lingas, nasial, plains, salina, saline, signal, silane, silvan, snails, spinal, vinals. | |
+2 letters: ablings, agnails, aiblins, ainsell, alanins, albinos, aldrins, alevins, alexins, aliners, alkines, alnicos, alpines, alumins, anilins, animals, anisole, basinal, calkins, caplins, carlins, catlins, denials, elastin, elysian, entails, finales, finalis, finials, flavins, gingals, hyalins, incisal, inclasp, infalls, inhales, inhauls, inlaces, inlands, install, instals, insular, inulase, inwalls, islands, jingals, kalians, kaolins, lacings, ladings, ladinos, lakings, laminas, lapsing, lashing, lashins, lasting, latinos, lattins, lawines, lawings, leasing, lesbian, liaison, ligands, linages, lingams, linsang, maligns, malines, malison, malkins, manilas, marlins, menials, mislain, misplan, nailers, nailset, nastily, nilgais, nilgaus, oilcans, palings, paulins, pineals, plaints, planish, plasmin, ratlins, renails, sailing, saintly, salicin, salient, salinas, salines, salpian, salpinx, saltine, salting, salving, sanicle, sapling, scaleni, scaling, sealing, seminal, signals, silanes, silvans, slainte, slaking, slating, slaving, slaying, snailed, snakily, solanin, spaniel, spinals, spinula, splenia, staling, sundial, talions, tenails, tincals, uncials, unnails, urinals, valines. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Bible Trace 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.