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Snowball

//ˈsnəʊbɔːl// adj, name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective

1
Of something with rapid growth, often uncontrolled. Compare snowball effect. not-comparable
"Scandal, with her, did not lose any of its usual snowball propensities, of gathering as it went."

Proper Noun

1
A surname transferred from the nickname.
2
A locality in the Queanbeyan-Palerang council area, south eastern New South Wales, Australia.

Noun

1
A ball of snow, usually one made in the hand and thrown for amusement in a snowball fight; also a larger ball of snow made by rolling a snowball around in snow that sticks to it and increases its diameter.
2
snow pressed into a ball for throwing (playfully) wordnet
3
A cocktail made from lemonade and advocaat.
4
ball of crushed ice with fruit syrup wordnet
5
Something that snowballs (grows rapidly out of control). figuratively
"Representatives of the small airlines that felt betrayed by Brown's policy started a political snowball rolling, resulting in the Airmail Act of 1934..."

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6
ball of ice cream covered with coconut and usually chocolate sauce wordnet
7
A sex act involving passing ejaculated semen from one person's mouth to another's.
8
plant having heads of fragrant white trumpet-shaped flowers; grows in sandy arid regions wordnet
9
A type of ice dessert: a snow cone. US
10
A small cake, typically cream-filled and covered in chocolate icing and desiccated coconut.
"It didn't take long to eat a packetful of snowballs - they are simply delicious."

Verb

1
To rapidly grow out of proportion or control, from an initially smaller state. intransitive
"The high unemployment rates quickly snowballed into a major budget problem for the government."
2
increase or accumulate at a rapidly accelerating rate wordnet
3
To play at throwing snowballs. intransitive
4
throw snowballs at wordnet
5
To pelt with snowballs; to throw snowballs at. transitive

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6
To receive ejaculated semen in one's mouth, and to then pass it back and forth between one’s mouth and another person’s mouth. intransitive, slang, vulgar

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English snoweball, snoweballe, snaweballe, snayballe, equivalent to snow + ball. Cognate with Scots snawbaw, German Schneeball, Luxembourgish Schnéiball, Dutch sneeuwbal, Afrikaans sneeubal, Limburgish snieëbal, West Frisian sniebal, Saterland Frisian Sneebaal, Sneebal, Swedish snöboll, Elfdalian sniųoboll, Danish snebold, Norwegian Bokmål snøball, Norwegian Nynorsk snøball and Icelandic snjóbolti.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Etymology 4

From snow + ball, probably a nickname for someone who had a patch of white hair or a pale bald patch, amid dark hair.

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