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
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
Paul ZimmermanThe snowballing growth of the last few years probably cannot continue forever.—Tamar Lewin
Tamar Lewin2
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 snowballed …—Fritz Leiber
Fritz LeiberExamples 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
Angela Yang, NBC News, 9 Feb. 2025
Cops said around 7:15 p.m., a snowball struck a vehicle, which then circled the block and chased the two youngsters, with someone inside fired gunshots at them.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 23 Jan. 2025
Elazar Sontag, Bon Appétit, 20 Feb. 2025
Existing information collected for one purpose cannot necessarily be used for another, Benjamin said, adding that missing slight differences could snowball into huge effects in areas such as disease prevention.
—Reuters, NBC News, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for snowball
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Noun
New York City's Central Park was blanketed with a thin layer of snow that drew visitors who rode makeshift sleds down its gentle slopes and armed themselves with snowballs Sunday.
—Angela Yang, NBC News, 9 Feb. 2025
Cops said around 7:15 p.m., a snowball struck a vehicle, which then circled the block and chased the two youngsters, with someone inside fired gunshots at them.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 23 Jan. 2025
Verb
On Instagram, the pie went mega-viral and the shop’s success snowballed.
—Elazar Sontag, Bon Appétit, 20 Feb. 2025
Existing information collected for one purpose cannot necessarily be used for another, Benjamin said, adding that missing slight differences could snowball into huge effects in areas such as disease prevention.
—Reuters, NBC News, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for snowball
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Cite this Entry
“Snowball.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snowball. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
snowball
1 of 2 noun
snow·ball
ˈsnō-ˌbȯl 
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 verb1
: to throw snowballs at
2
: to increase or expand at a rapidly accelerating rate
problems snowball when early trouble signs are ignored
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