[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/snail/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [S](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/s/) / snail

# snail

noun (a snail, snails)

«snail» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A snail is a small, slow animal with a soft, slimy body and a spiral shell on its back that lives on land or in water. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#m1)
2. Snail can describe something very slow («at a snail's pace»). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science snails are molluscs: they have one muscular foot, leave a trail of slime, have tentacles with eyes, and eat plants, so gardeners see them as pests. They hide in their shells when it is dry or dangerous. In maths puzzles a snail climbing a wall is a classic problem. Phrases: «at a snail's pace», «snail mail» (letters sent by post), «snail shell».

### Examples

- A snail left a silvery trail across the path. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#x1)
- The snail pulled its head into its shell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#x2)
- Snails ate all our lettuce. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#x3)
- The traffic moved at a snail's pace. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#x4)
- Snails come out after rain. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#x5)
- A snail has its eyes on the tips of its tentacles. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#x6)
- Grandma still sends birthday cards by snail mail. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#x7)
- A snail climbs 3 metres a day and slips back 2 at night, so it gains 1 metre each full day. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#x8)
- "I take my time," said the snail. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/#x9)

### Note

Countable: «a snail». A snail without a shell is a «slug». Wash your hands after touching snails. In the classic puzzle, the snail escapes on the last day before slipping back, so count carefully.

## In Jewish tradition

In the Psalm it is a creature that seems to melt away as it moves, a picture of how the wicked will vanish.

**Interpretation.** Commentators take it as a picture of the wicked wasting away and leaving nothing behind.

### Examples

- Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away; like the untimely births of a woman, that have not seen the sun. (Writings PSA.58.9, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/snail/#x1)

### Note

Countable: «a snail». A snail without a shell is a «slug». Wash your hands after touching snails. In the classic puzzle, the snail escapes on the last day before slipping back, so count carefully.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «snail» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snail/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«snail» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/snail.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «snail» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/snail/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«snail» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/snail.html) on Mova free.