Snail
[sneɪl] or [snel]
Definition
(noun.) freshwater or marine or terrestrial gastropod mollusk usually having an external enclosing spiral shell.
(verb.) gather snails; 'We went snailing in the summer'.
Checked by Debbie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Any one of numerous species of terrestrial air-breathing gastropods belonging to the genus Helix and many allied genera of the family Helicidae. They are abundant in nearly all parts of the world except the arctic regions, and feed almost entirely on vegetation; a land snail.
(n.) Any gastropod having a general resemblance to the true snails, including fresh-water and marine species. See Pond snail, under Pond, and Sea snail.
(n.) Hence, a drone; a slow-moving person or thing.
(n.) 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.
(n.) A tortoise; in ancient warfare, a movable roof or shed to protect besiegers; a testudo.
(n.) The pod of the sanil clover.
Edited by Babbage
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Slug.[2]. Drone, idler, sluggard, slow-back.
Editor: Murdoch
Definition
n. a term for the species of terrestrial Gasteropoda which have well-formed spiral shells—the more typical snails belonging to the genus Helix of the family Helicid having the shell of many whorls globose depressed or conical.—ns. Snail′-clov′er -trē′foil a species of medic; Snail′-fish a fish of genus Liparis sticking to rocks; Snail′-flow′er a twining bean.—adjs. Snail′-like (Shak.) in the manner of a snail slowly; Snail′-paced (Shak.) as slow-moving as a snail; Snail′-slow as slow as a snail.—n. Snail′-wheel in some striking time-pieces a rotating piece with a spiral periphery having notches so arranged as to determine the number of strokes made on the bell.—Snail's pace a very slow pace.
Checked by Archie
Unserious Contents or Definition
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.
Edited by Hattie
Examples
- His hat presents at the rims a peculiar appearance of a glistening nature, as if it had been a favourite snail-promenade. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- 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. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- But do me one cast of thy holy office, and, come what list of others, thou shalt sleep as safe in thy cell as a snail within his shell of proof. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Only we need not walk at a snail's' pace. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- My life creeps like a snail. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- For a matter of five minutes I waited and then he came in sight on his slow and snail-like beat about the structure. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- The revolver I had dropped, so that while we were both strong swimmers it seemed to me that we moved at a snail's pace through the water. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- The green damp hung upon the low walls; the tracks of the snail and slug glistened in the light of the candle; but all was still as death. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- The one-legged man in the little signal-hut by the road stared out from his security, like a crab from a snail-shell. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- To execute his message the snail is as sure a messenger as the falcon. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- She thought of the wood, and stole towards it, heedless of long grass and briers: of worms, snails, and slugs, and all the creeping things that be. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- He had newts, snails, and frogs--the two latter delicacies are still highly esteemed in Normandy and Brittany. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Typed by Corinne