Snowball

/ˈsnoʊbɔːl/

Meaning & Definition

noun

A ball made of packed snow, typically thrown as a missile.

The children eagerly packed snow into tight snowballs for their winter snowball fight.

A large ball of snow formed by rolling a smaller ball of snow over the snow on the ground.

They rolled a giant snowball down the hill to create a snowman.

verb

To form into a snowball, or to create a situation that grows increasingly larger and more difficult to control.

The kids love to snowball each other in the park during winter.

To cause something to increase or accumulate at an accelerating rate.

The initial criticism snowballed into a major public outcry.

First known use in 1843, combining 'snow' and 'ball'.

snowball effect

A situation where an event causes a chain reaction of other events.

snowball fight

A playful combat with snowballs.

snowball down the hill

To grow rapidly as it moves along.

sleet

A form of precipitation consisting of ice pellets.

hail

Pellets of frozen rain.

To give someone a snowball effect in conversation or business.

His constant complaints created a snowball effect in the office.

To attempt to imply something indirectly, often in gossip.

She was snowballing rumors about him.