# snail

Pronunciation: say "SNAYL" /sneɪl/

## Noun

1. Any of a large group of soft-bodied animals of the class Gastropoda, whether hermaphroditic or not, having a coiled shell.
   - Simple: A small, soft-bodied animal that carries a coiled shell and moves very slowly.
   - _A snail can withdraw its entire body into its coiled shell for protection._
   - _Garden snails feed mostly at night, grazing on leaves and leaving silvery trails._
2. A slow-moving or habitually sluggish person; a sluggard. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A person who is very slow or always takes too long to do things.
   - _The new clerk was a snail, taking an hour over work others finished in minutes._
   - _Stop being such a snail and get your coat on before we miss the bus._
4. A spiral cam, or flat piece of metal with a spirally curved outline, used to move or reposition another part, as in a striking clock.
   - Simple: A curved, spiral-shaped metal part that moves another part in a machine such as a clock.
   - _The repairer replaced the snail so the striking train would count the hours correctly._
   - _Each step cut into the snail corresponds to a different number of hammer blows._
5. In railroading, a locomotive lacking traction motors whose engine serves only to generate extra electricity for another locomotive.
   - Simple: A railway engine that makes extra electric power for another engine but cannot pull a train by itself.
   - _Operators coupled a snail behind the lead unit to supply extra power on the steep grade._
   - _The snail fed current to the locomotive ahead without turning any wheels of its own._
6. A movable roof or shed used to shield besieging troops; a tortoise or testudo.
   - Simple: A movable shed or roof that protected attacking soldiers as they reached a fort's wall.
   - _The besiegers rolled a snail toward the rampart, sheltering beneath it from the stones hurled down on them._
   - _Arrows could do little against men advancing under the cover of a snail._
7. The seedpod produced by the snail clover.
   - Simple: The seed case that grows on the snail clover plant.
   - _Each snail on the clover holds several seeds within its tightly wound shape._
   - _Growers harvest the snails once they have dried on the stem._

## Verb

3. To move or travel at a very slow pace.
   - Simple: To move or travel somewhere very slowly.
   - _The convoy snailed through the mountain pass, barely covering ten miles in an hour._
   - _Commuters snail toward downtown whenever an accident blocks a lane._

## Origin

From Middle English snayl, from Old English sneġel, from Proto-Germanic *snagilaz. It is related to German Schnegel ("slug") and Old Norse snigill.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/snail (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).