snails
plural of snail
snails
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of snail
Source: Wiktionary
Snail, n. Etym: [OE. snaile, AS. sn, snegel, sn; akin to G. schnecke, OHG. snecko, Dan. snegl, Icel. snigill.]
1. (Zoöl.) (a) Any one of numerous species of terrestrial air-breathing gastropods belonging to the genus Helix and many allied genera of the family Helicidæ. They are abundant in nearly all parts of the world except the arctic regions, and feed almost entirely on vegetation; a land sanil. (b) Any gastropod having a general resemblance to the true snails, including fresh-water and marine species. See Pond snail, under Pond, and Sea snail.
2. Hence, a drone; a slow-moving person or thing.
3. (Mech.)
Definition: 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; in ancient warfare, a movable roof or shed to protect besiegers; a testudo. [Obs.] They had also all manner of gynes [engines] . . . that needful is [in] taking or sieging of castle or of city, as snails, that was naught else but hollow pavises and targets, under the which men, when they fought, were heled [protected], . . . as the snail is in his house; therefore they cleped them snails. Vegetius (Trans.).
5. (Bot.)
Definition: The pod of the sanil clover. Ear snail, Edible snail, Pond snail, etc. See under Ear, Edible, etc.
– Snail borer (Zoöl.), a boring univalve mollusk; a drill.
– Snail clover (Bot.), a cloverlike plant (Medicago scuttellata, also, M. Helix); -- so named from its pods, which resemble the shells of snails; -- called also snail trefoil, snail medic, and beehive.
– Snail flower (Bot.), a leguminous plant (Phaseolus Caracalla) having the keel of the carolla spirally coiled like a snail shell.
– Snail shell (Zoöl.), the shell of snail.
– Snail trefoil. (Bot.) See Snail clover, above.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
24 November 2024
(noun) a person (usually but not necessarily a woman) who is thoroughly disliked; “she said her son thought Hillary was a bitch”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
