FluentPlex

snail

/sneɪl/ noun C1
  1. Any of very many animals (either hermaphroditic or nonhermaphroditic), of the class Gastropoda, having a coiled shell.
  2. A slow person; a sluggard. (informal)
  3. 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.
  4. A tortoise or testudo; a movable roof or shed to protect besiegers.
  5. The pod of the snail clover.
  6. A locomotive with a prime mover but no traction motors, used to provide extra electrical power to another locomotive.

Plural snails

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From the library

There was a tang in the very air that inspired the hearts of small maidens tripping, unlike snails, swiftly and willingly to school; and it _was_ jolly to be back again at the little brown desk beside Diana, with Ruby Gillis nodding across the aisle and Carrie Sloane sending up notes and Julia Bell passing a “chew” of gum down from the back seat.
Anne of Green Gables, p. 181 · C1
“Will you walk a little faster?” said a whiting to a snail.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, p. 77 · B2
“You can really have no notion how delightful it will be When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!” But the snail replied “Too far, too far!” and gave a look askance— Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, p. 77 · B2
The further off from England the nearer is to France— Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, p. 77 · B2

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.