snail
/sneɪl/noun, verb
snail is spelled S-N-A-I-L: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, snail means “Any of very many animals (either hermaphroditic or nonhermaphroditic), of the class Gastropoda, having a coiled shell” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of snail is snails.
How many letters and syllables are in snail?
| Letters | 5: S-N-A-I-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.7 times per million words; the 11,685th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is snail?
Snail appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce snail?
- /sneɪl/
- [sn̥eɪ̯ɫ]
Snail has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-snail.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with snail?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as snail.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: nails, slain.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of snail
- snails plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- snailing participle, present
- snailed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does snail mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of very many animals (either hermaphroditic or nonhermaphroditic), of the class Gastropoda, having a coiled shell.
- 2
informalA slow person; a sluggard.
- 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.
verb
- 1
To move or travel very slowly.
The cars were snailing along the motorway during the rush hour.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Snail in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | escargot, limaçon |
| German | Schnecke, Gehäuseschnecke |
| Portuguese | caramujo, caracol , lesma |
| Spanish | caracol, churo, tlaconete , haragán, holgazán, gandul |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does snail come from?
From Middle English snayl, snail, 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).