snail

snail
[[t]sne͟ɪl[/t]]
snails
1) N-COUNT A snail is a small animal with a long, soft body, no legs, and a spiral-shaped shell. Snails move very slowly.
2) PHRASE: PHR after v (emphasis) If you say that someone does something at a snail's pace, you are emphasizing that they are doing it very slowly, usually when you think it would be better if they did it much more quickly.

The train was moving now at a snail's pace...

The economy grew at a snail's pace in the first three months of this year.


English dictionary. 2008.

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  • Snail — (sn[=a]l), n. [OE. snaile, AS. sn[ae]gel, snegel, sn[ae]gl; akin to G. schnecke, OHG. snecko, Dan. snegl, Icel. snigill.] 1. (Zo[ o]l.) (a) Any one of numerous species of terrestrial air breathing gastropods belonging to the genus Helix and many… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • snail — snail; snail·er; snail·ery; snail·ish; snail·ish·ly; …   English syllables

  • snail — [sneıl] n [: Old English; Origin: snAgl] 1.) a small soft creature that moves very slowly and has a hard shell on its back 2.) at a snail s pace extremely slowly ▪ Traffic was moving at a snail s pace …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • snail — (n.) O.E. snægl, from P.Gmc. *snagilas (Cf. O.S. snegil, O.N. snigill, M.H.G. snegel, dialectal Ger. Schnegel, O.H.G. snecko, Ger. Schnecke snail ), from root *snag , *sneg to crawl (see SNAKE (Cf. snake) (n.)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • snail — [ sneıl ] noun count a small animal that has a soft body, no legs, and a hard shell on its back. Snails move very slowly. at a snail s pace very slowly …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • snail — ► NOUN ▪ a slow moving mollusc with a spiral shell into which the whole body can be withdrawn. ORIGIN Old English …   English terms dictionary

  • snail — [snāl] n. [ME snaile < OE snægl, akin to Ger dial. schnägel, ON snigill < IE base * sneg , to creep > SNAKE, SNEAK] 1. any of a large number of slow moving gastropods living on land or in water and having a spiral protective shell: some… …   English World dictionary

  • Snail — For other uses, see Snail (disambiguation). For sea snails, see Sea snail. For slugs, see Slug. Helix pomatia, a species of land snail …   Wikipedia

  • 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.… …   Easton's Bible Dictionary

  • snail — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ edible ▪ aquatic, land, marine, pond, sea, water SNAIL + NOUN ▪ she …   Collocations dictionary

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