snowball

[snoh-bawl] /ˈsnoʊˌbɔl/
noun
1.
a ball of snow pressed or rolled together, as for throwing.
2.
any of several shrubs belonging to the genus Viburnum, of the honeysuckle family, having large clusters of white, sterile flowers.
3.
a confection of crushed ice, usually in the shape of a ball, which is flavored with fruit or other syrup and served in a paper cup.
4.
a scoop or ball of ice cream covered with shredded coconut and usually chocolate sauce.
verb (used with object)
5.
to throw snowballs at.
6.
to cause to grow or become larger, greater, more intense, etc., at an accelerating rate:
to snowball a small business into a great enterprise.
verb (used without object)
7.
to grow or become larger, greater, more intense, etc., at an accelerating rate.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English (noun); see snow, ball1
Examples from the web for snowball
  • Everyone else is opening gifts from grandparents and aunts and uncles, and all he has is the snowball.
  • The advanced level on the snowball fight is probably my favorite.
  • And storms snowball their strength here before hitting land.
  • Its popularity owes more to the snowball effect of literary reputation and social contagion rather than intrinsic brilliance.
  • snowball the dancing parrot shifts rhythm as music changes.
  • Maybe this is nature's way of saying it's time for a snowball fight.
  • When snow was present, some even held snowball fights.
  • And the more bidders overbid, the more their high bids begin to snowball.
  • Small initial differences could much more quickly snowball into large differences.
  • Traditional hypotheses about formation of planets by a method of a snowball suffer crash.
British Dictionary definitions for snowball

snowball

/ˈsnəʊˌbɔːl/
noun
1.
snow pressed into a ball for throwing, as in play
2.
a drink made of advocaat and lemonade
3.
(slang) a mixture of heroin and cocaine
4.
a dance started by one couple who separate and choose different partners. The process continues until all present are dancing
verb
5.
(intransitive) to increase rapidly in size, importance, etc: their woes have snowballed since last year
6.
(transitive) to throw snowballs at
Word Origin and History for snowball
n.

c.1400, from snow (n.) + ball (n.1). Cf. West Frisian sniebal, Middle Dutch sneubal, German Schneeball, Danish snebold. Expression snowball's chance (in hell) "no chance" is recorded by 1910.

v.

"to make snowballs," 1680s, from snowball (n.); sense of "to throw snowballs at" (someone) is from 1850. Meaning "to increase rapidly" is attested from 1929, though the image of a snowball increasing in size as it rolls along had been used since at least 1613, and a noun sense of "a pyramid scheme" is attested from 1892. Related: Snowballed; snowballing.

Slang definitions & phrases for snowball

snowball

verb
  1. To increase rapidly: Soon the racket began to snowball (1929+)
  2. To dominate and crush; steamroller: He's less sensitive to people's feelings. He runs over them, snowballs them (1850+)

[first sense fr the fact that a snowball rolled downhill becomes larger and larger; second sense fr the notion of attacking someone with snowballs]