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
The snowballing growth of the last few years probably cannot continue forever.—Tamar Lewin
2
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
Cite this Entry
“Snowball.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snowball. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.
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