snowball

1 of 2

noun

snow·​ball ˈsnō-ˌbȯl How to pronounce snowball (audio)
1
a
: a round mass of snow pressed or rolled together
b
2
: any of several cultivated shrubby viburnums (genus Viburnum) with clusters of white sterile flowers

called also snowball bush

snowball

2 of 2

verb

snowballed; snowballing; snowballs
1
intransitive : to increase, accumulate, expand, or multiply at a rapidly accelerating rate
a trend that has begun to snowball
It was one of those games in which things just snowballed and kept getting worse for Philly …Paul Zimmerman
The snowballing growth of the last few years probably cannot continue forever.Tamar Lewin
2
transitive : to attack with snowballs : to throw snowballs at
Any man so unwise as to walk alone by day was apt to be set upon and snowballedFritz Leiber

Examples of snowball in a Sentence

Noun This snow is perfect for making snowballs. Verb Problems snowball when early trouble signs are ignored. What started as a small annual concert has snowballed into a full-fledged music festival. consumers dealing with snowballing debt
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Some scientists believe that thousands of these cosmic snowballs smashed into the Earth. Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 12 June 2024 From there, Mankato East simply put balls in play, and mental and physical errors seemed to snowball for the Raiders (20-7), as the Cougars (20-6) largely used small ball to score their next five runs and put the game out of reach. Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 7 June 2024
Verb
Family secrets, corporate intrigue and snowballing power games make this story endlessly entertaining. Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 14 June 2024 Brock had two outs when the game snowballed out of control. Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for snowball 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'snowball.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1820, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of snowball was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near snowball

Cite this Entry

“Snowball.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snowball. Accessed 2 Jul. 2024.

Kids Definition

snowball

1 of 2 noun
snow·​ball ˈsnō-ˌbȯl How to pronounce snowball (audio)
1
: a round mass of snow pressed or rolled together
2
: a viburnum widely grown for its ball-shaped clusters of white flowers

called also snowball bush

snowball

2 of 2 verb
1
: to throw snowballs at
2
: to increase or expand at a rapidly accelerating rate
problems snowball when early trouble signs are ignored

More from Merriam-Webster on snowball

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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