snail

English

garden snail (Cornu aspersum)

Etymology

From the Middle English snaile, snayle, 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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: snāl
• IPA^(key): /sneɪl/, [sn̥eɪ̯ɫ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪl

Noun

snail (plural snails)

2. Any of very many animals (either hermaphroditic or nonhermaphroditic), of the class Gastropoda, having a coiled shell.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     ‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […] ’

3. (informal, by extension) A slow person; a sluggard.
4. (engineering) 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.
5. (military, historical) A tortoise or testudo; a movable roof or shed to protect besiegers.
6. The pod of the snail clover.
7. (rail transport) A locomotive with a prime mover but no traction motors, used to provide extra electrical power to another locomotive.

Synonyms

• (animal): dodman, hodmandod (East Anglia, dialectal)

Derived terms

• achatine snail (Achatinidae spp.)
• African snail (Achatina spp.)
• agate snail (Achatina achatina)
• amber snail, ambersnail (Succineidae spp.)
• apple snail (Ampullariidae spp.)
• Australian snail (Lenameria dispar)
• awl snail (Subulinidae spp.)
• Badwater snail (Angustassiminea infima)
• bonnet snail (Cassidae spp.)
• boulder snail
• bristle snail (Austrochloritis spp.)
• brown-lipped snail
• brown snail (Helix aspersa)
• bubble snail (Bulla spp.)
• Burgundy snail (Helix pomatia)
• carrier snail (Xenophora spp.)
• cinnamon snail
• cone snail (Conidae spp.)
• decollate snail (Rumina decollata)
• dew snail
• domed land snail (Zospeum tholussum)
• door snail (Clausiliidae spp.)
• ear snail (Ellobiidae spp.)
• edible snail (Helix pomatia)
• emerald green snail (Papustyla pulcherrima)
• Finger Snail
• flying snail
• giant snail (Achatina spp.)
• glass snail (Vitrinidae spp.)
• green snail (Turbo marmoratus; Helix aperta)
• grove snail (Cepaea nemoralis)
• harp snail (Harpidae spp.)
• helmet snail (Cassidae spp.)
• housesnail
• Japanese snail (Viviparus malleatus)
• land snail (Caenogastropoda spp. etc.)
• Lister's river snail (Viviparus contectus)
• looping snail (Truncatella spp.)
• milk snail (Otala lactea, syn. Helix lactea)
• moon snail (Naticidae spp.)
• Moorean viviparous tree snail (†Partula mirabilis)
• mud snail (Corbulidae spp.; Lymnaea truncatella)
• murex snail (Muricidae spp.)
• mystery snail (Viviparidae spp.)
• Newcomb's snail (Erinna newcombi)
• olive snail (Oliviae spp.)
• palm-leaf snail (Assimineidae spp.)
• pebblesnail (Truncatelloidea spp.)
• Polynesian tree snail (Partula spp., Somoana spp.)
• pond snail (Lymnaeidae spp.)
• purple storm snail (Janthina janthina)
• rack and snail
• ramshorn snail (Planorbidae spp.)
• river snail (Viviparidae spp.)
• rocksnail (Leptoxis spp.)
• Roman snail (Helix pomatia}
• scaly-foot snail (Chrysomallon squamiferum)
• sea snail (Gastropoda spp.)
• shoulderband snail (Helminthoglypta spp.)
• slow as a snail
• slugsnail (Stylommatophora spp.)
• snail butter
• snail darter (Percina tanasi)
• snail fever
• snailfish (Liparidae spp.)
• snail king
• snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis)
• snail mail, snail-mail
• snail-sense feminism
• snail's pace, snail pace, snail-paced
• snail syrup
• snail trail
• snail trefoil (Medicago scutellata)
• snail-wheel
• strawberry snail (Trochulus striolatus)
• top snail (Trochidae spp. etc.)
• tulip snail (Fasciolaria spp.)
• turban snail (Turbinidae spp.)
• Utah roundmouth snail (Valvata utahensis)
• valve snail (Valvata spp.)
• violet snail (Janthina janthina)
• volcano snail (Chrysomallon squamiferum)
• water snail
• white-lipped snail (Cepaea hortensis)
• white snail (Helix pomatia; Helix pisana)
• whorl snail (Vertiginidae spp.)
• wing snail (Pteropoda spp.)
• wood snail (Helix nemoralis)
• zombie snail

 

Translations

any animal of the class Gastropoda having a shell

• Abkhaz: акамыршша (akʼamərŝŝa)
• Adyghe: цӏыӏргъ (cʼəʼrğ)
• Afrikaans: slak (af)
• Aghwan: please add this translation if you can
• Aklanon: please add this translation if you can
• Albanian: kërmill (sq) m
• Arabic: حَلَزُون m (ḥalazūn)

  Algerian Arabic: بوجغلال (bujaḡlāl)

  Egyptian Arabic: حلزون m (ḥalazūn), قوقع m (ʔōʔaʕ)

  Gulf Arabic: صبّان f (ṣabbān)

  Iraqi Arabic: زلنطح f (zalanṭaḥ)

  Moroccan Arabic: ببوش (babbūš), حلزون f (ḥalazūn), غلالة f (ḡlāla)

  North Levantine Arabic: بزقة f (bezzaʔa)

  Tunisian Arabic: ببوش f (bebbūš)

• Aragonese: caragol m
• Armenian: խխունջ (hy) (xxunǰ)
• Assamese: শামুক (xamuk)
• Asturian: cascoxu (ast) m, caracol (ast) m
• Avar: цӏадал хӏама (cʼadal ḥʳama)
• Aymara: ch'uru (ay)
• Azerbaijani: ilbiz (az)
• Basque: barraskilo
• Bats: ჰიმო̂ (himô)
• Belarusian: смоўж (be) m (smoŭž), сліма́к m (slimák), улі́тка f (ulítka)
• Bemba: ín-kolâ
• Bengali: শামুক (bn) (śamuk)
• Berber:

  Kabyle: ababbuc

  Tashelhit: aɣwlal m

• Bhojpuri: घोंघा (ghōṅghā)
• Borôro: uruwo
• Bouyei: duezngeec, ngeec, sailndis, sailnduangl
• Breton: melc'hwed (br)
• Bulgarian: о́хлюв (bg) m (óhljuv)
• Burmese: ခရုပက်ကျိ (my) (hka.ru.pakkyi.), ပက်ကျိ (my) (pakkyi.)
• Catalan: caragol (ca) m, cargol (ca)
• Central Melanau: sek
• Chakma: 𑄥𑄟𑄪𑄇𑄴 (sāmuk), 𑄌𑄖𑄴 (cat)
• Chamicuro: shyamo
• Chechen: этмаьӏиг (etmäˀig)
• Cherokee: ᎡᎶᏆ (eloqua)
• Chichewa: nkhono
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 蝸牛／蜗牛 (wo¹ ngau⁴)

  Eastern Min: 牛母牛囝 (ngù-mō̤-ngù-giāng)

  Hokkien: 露螺 (zh-min-nan) (lō͘-lê)

  Mandarin: 蝸牛／蜗牛 (zh) (wōniú, guāniú)

  Wu: 蝸牛／蜗牛 (⁵ku-gnieu)

• Chittagonian: óõk
• Chuvash: шуй (šuj)
• Corsican: lumaca (co) f
• Cree: ᐊᑲᐦᑿᕀ (akahkway)
• Czech: hlemýžď (cs) m, šnek (cs) m
• Danish: snegl (da) c (can also mean slug), snegl med sneglehus (expressly with a shell)
• Dutch: slak (nl) f, huisjesslak (nl) f
• Emilian: lumèga f
• Erzya: гуйтодов (gujtodov)
• Esperanto: heliko (eo)
• Estonian: tigu
• Faroese: snigil m
• Finnish: kotilo (fi), etana (fi)
• Franco-Provençal: lemace f
• French: escargot (fr) m, limaçon (fr)
• Galician: cosco (gl) m, cornacha f, cornacho m, sesillo m, caxirolo m, cascarolo (gl) m
• Georgian: ლოკოკინა (loḳoḳina)
• German: Schnecke (de) f (any animal of the class Gastropoda, also without shell), Gehäuseschnecke f

  Alemannic German: Schnägg m

• Gilaki: راب (rāb)
• Greek: σαλιγκάρι (el) n (saligkári)

  Ancient: κόχλιας m (kókhlias)

• Greenlandic: siuteroq
• Guaraní: jatyta
• Haitian Creole: kalmason
• Hebrew: חִלָּזוֹן (he) m (khilazón), שַׁבְּלוּל (he) m (shablúl)
• Hindi: घोंगा (hi) m (ghoṅgā)
• Hinukh: хетӏу-бисмилла (xet’u-bismilla)
• Hungarian: csiga (hu)
• Icelandic: snigill (is) m
• Ido: heliko (io)
• Indonesian: bekicot (id), keong (id), siput (id)
• Ingrian: maonkotain
• Ingush: митал (mital)
• Interlingua: limace (ia)
• Irish: seilide (ga) m, seilmide m, seilche m
• Isthmus Zapotec: bichubé
• Italian: chiocciola (it) f, lumaca (it) f
• Japanese: 蝸牛 (ja) (かたつむり, katatsumuri), カタツムリ (ja) (katatsumuri), でんでん虫 (でんでんむし, denden-mushi) (regional)
• Kannada: ಬಸವನ ಹುಳು (kn) (basavana huḷu), ಶಂಬುಕ (kn) (śambuka)
• Kazakh: ұлу (ūlu)
• Khinalug: илбиз (ilbiz)
• Khmer: ខ្យង (km) (khyɑɑng)
• Kimaragang: tuntul
• Korean: 달팽이 (ko) (dalpaeng'i), 와우(蝸牛) (wau)
• Kryts: шийтӏан
• Kunigami: っとぅんな (ttunna)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: hiseynok (ku), şeytanok (ku)

• Kyrgyz: үлүл (ky) (ülül)
• Lao: ຫອຍນ້ຳຈືດ (lo) (hǭi nam chư̄t)
• Latgalian: glīmiezs
• Latin: cochlea (la) f
• Latvian: gliemezis m
• Laz: ფენწო (penǯo)
• Limburgish: snaegel m, slak (li) f
• Lisu: ꓠꓸ ꓑꓼ ꓟꓺ (nɑ́ pɑ̱̀ mɑ̱), ꓐꓶꓼ ꓠꓶꓼ (bɯ̱̀ nɯ̱̀)
• Lithuanian: sraigė (lt) f
• Lombard: lumaga (lmo) f
• Lü: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: Schleek (lb) m
• Macedonian: по́лжав m (pólžav), ро́глец m (róglec)
• Malagasy: lelosy (mg), sifotra (mg)
• Malay: siput (ms)
• Malayalam: ഒച്ച് (ml) (occŭ)
• Maltese: bebbux m, għakrux m
• Manx: crammag
• Maori: pūpū
• Marathi: गोगलगाय (gogalgāy)
• Mazanderani: لیسک (lisek), راب (rāb), گرسکل (gereskel)
• Mingrelian: ფერწო (perc̣o), ლოქორუა (lokorua)
• Miyako: んーな (nna)
• Mon: တု (taoˀ)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: эмгэн хумс (emgen xums), бүрээ хорхой (büree xorxoj) (especially Inner Mongolia)

  Mongolian: ᠡᠮᠡᠭᠡᠨ
  ᠬᠢᠮᠤᠰᠤ (emegen kimusu) ᠪᠦᠷᠢᠶ᠎ᠡ
  ᠬᠣᠷᠣᠬᠠᠢ (büriy-e qoroqai)

• Nahuatl: tecciztli (nah)
• Navajo: chʼosh chʼééh digháhii, tąądee naagháii
• Neapolitan: babbaluscia m
• Norman: colînmachon m
• Northern Sami: riipu
• Northern Sotho: kgohu
• Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: snegl (no) m, snile m

  Nynorsk: snigel m

• Occitan: cagaraula (oc) f, cagaròl (oc) m
• Ojibwe: biimiskodisii
• Okinawan: ちんなん (chinnan)
• Old East Slavic: смолжь m (smolžĭ)
• Old English: sneġel m (snail or slug), ġehūsod sneġel m (snail specifically)
• Old Irish: selige m
• Ossetian: сӕтӕлӕг (sætælæg)
• Pannonian Rusyn: шлїмак m (šljimak), шлїмушлїк m (šljimušljik)
• Pashto: غوابيژه f (ǧwābíža), غوابيژی m (ǧwābížay), غواګۍ f (ǧwāgǝ́y)
• Pennsylvania German: Schneck m
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: حَلَزون (fa) (halazun), لیسَک (fa) (lisak)

• Plautdietsch: Schnigj f
• Polish: ślimak (pl) m
• Portuguese: caramujo (pt) m, caracol (pt) m
• Quechua: ch'uru
• Romagnol: lumég f
• Romanian: melc (ro) m
• Romansch: lindorna f
• Russian: ули́тка (ru) f (ulítka)
• Samogitian: srāgis f
• Sanskrit: शम्बूक (sa) m (śambūka)
• Scots: snail
• Scottish Gaelic: seilcheag f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пу̑ж m

  Roman: pȗž (sh) m

• Shan: please add this translation if you can
• Shona: hózhwe
• Sicilian: babbaluciu (scn) m, bucalaci (scn) m, crastuni (scn) m (big snail), (edible snail) stuppateddu (scn) m, vavaluci (scn) m
• Sinhalese: ගොළුබෙලි (goḷubeli)
• Slovak: slimák m
• Slovene: polž (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: slinik m

  Upper Sorbian: šlink m

• Southern Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: caracol (es) m, churo (es) m, tlaconete m
• Svan: მჷრღჷჭ (mərɣəč̣), მჷყა̄ნც (məq̇ānc)
• Swahili: konokono (sw) class 5/6
• Swazi: um-nenkhé
• Swedish: snigel (sv) c
• Sylheti: ꠢꠣꠝꠥꠇ (hamuk)
• Tagal Murut: please add this translation if you can
• Tagalog: kuhol
• Tajik: тӯқумшуллуқ (tüqumšulluq), холазун (xolazun)
• Tamil: நத்தை (ta) (nattai)
• Tarifit: aɣrar m, buššer m
• Tatar: лайлач (laylaç)
• Telugu: నత్త (te) (natta)
• Thai: หอยทาก (hɔ̌i-tâak)
• Tibetan: སྨུག་འབུ (smug 'bu)
• Tigrinya: ኣረነ (ʾaränä)
• Turkish: salyangoz (tr)
• Turkmen: ulitka
• Tuvan: хап-балык (xap-balık)
• Udi: аьлбиз (älbiz)
• Udmurt: куалялюльы (kuaľaľuľy), акач-тукач (akać-tukać) (dialectal), биётака (bijotaka) (dialectal)
• Ukrainian: ра́влик m (rávlyk), слима́к m (slymák)
• Urdu: گھون٘گا m (ghoṅgā), حَلْزُون m (halzūn)
• Uyghur: قۇلۇلە (qulule)
• Uzbek: chayon (uz), shilliq qurt
• Venetan: sciozo m, łumaga f
• Vietnamese: ốc (vi)
• Volapük: snel (vo)
• Walloon: caracole (wa) f
• Welsh: malwoden, malwen, malwod f
• West Coast Bajau: kesu'
• West Frisian: slak
• Wolof: please add this translation if you can
• Yaeyama: つだみ (tsudami)
• Yámana: atwel
• Yiddish: שנעק m (shnek)
• Yonaguni: んだみ (ndami)
• Yucatec Maya: urich, uul
• Yup'ik: please add this translation if you can
• Zazaki: seytanok c
• Zhuang: sae, saehaexma, hoingwh
• Zulu: umnenke (zu) class 3/4

sluggard

• Catalan: dropo (ca) m, mandrós (ca) m
• Czech: šnek (cs) m
• Danish: snegl (da) c
• Finnish: etana (fi)
• French: escargot (fr) m
• Galician: nugallán (gl) m, preguiceiro (gl) m, larchán m, arlote m, manguan m, lacazán (gl) m, mandrión m, bacaceiro m, loirán m, macandón m, estrobán m, baleigán (gl) m, brégolas (gl) m, gandaina (gl) m, lampantín (gl) m, camándula m, camanduleiro m, langrán (gl) m, loubán (gl) m, moulón m, galbán (gl) m
• Georgian: ლოკოკინა (loḳoḳina)
• Korean: 느림보 (neurimbo)
• Macedonian: вле́чко m (vléčko)
• Polish: osoba, która wlecze się f
• Portuguese: lesma (pt) f
• Russian: тихохо́д (ru) m (tixoxód), копу́ша (ru) m or f (kopúša)
• Spanish: haragán (es) m, holgazán (es) m, gandul (es) m, tortuga (es) f

See also

• heliciculture
• slug

Verb

snail (third-person singular simple present snails, present participle snailing, simple past and past participle snailed)

1. To move or travel very slowly.

   The cars were snailing along the motorway during the rush hour.

Anagrams

• Nilas, Sinla, nails, lains, Lians, sinal, Nails, salin, Lains, Aslin, nilas, anils, slain