Word Meanings - SNAIL - Book Publishers vocabulary database

A spiral cam, or a flat piece of metal of spirally curved outline, used for giving motion to, or changing the position of, another part, as the hammer tail of a striking clock. 4. A tortoise; in ancient warfare, a movable roof or shed to protect

Additional info about word: SNAIL

A spiral cam, or a flat piece of metal of spirally curved outline, used for giving motion to, or changing the position of, another part, as the hammer tail of a striking clock. 4. A tortoise; in ancient warfare, a movable roof or shed to protect besiegers; a testudo. They had also all manner of gynes . . . that needful is taking or sieging of castle or of city, as snails, that was naught else but hollow pavises and targets, under the which men, when they fought, were heled , . . . as the snail is in his house; therefore they cleped them snails. Vegetius . (more info) Any one of numerous species of terrestrial air-breathing gastropods belonging to the genus Helix and many allied genera of the family Helicidæ. They are abundant in nearly all parts of the world except the arctic regions, and feed almost entirely on vegetation; a land sanil. Any gastropod having a general resemblance to the true snails, including fresh-water and marine species. See Pond snail, under Pond, and Sea snail. 2. Hence, a drone; a slow-moving person or thing.

Related words: (words related to SNAIL)

• HAMMER LOCK
  A hold in which an arm of one contestant is held twisted and bent behind his back by his opponent.
• METALOGICAL
  Beyond the scope or province of logic.
• ANOTHER-GUESS
  Of another sort. It used to go in another-guess manner. Arbuthnot.
• METALLIC
  Of, pertaining to, or characterized by, the essential and implied properties of a metal, as contrasted with a nonmetal or metalloid; basic; antacid; positive. Metallic iron, iron in the state of the metal, as distinquished from its ores, as magnetic
• CHANGEFUL
  Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain. Pope. His course had been changeful. Motley. -- Change"ful*ly, adv. -- Change"ful*ness, n.
• MOTIONER
  One who makes a motion; a mover. Udall.
• MOTIONIST
  A mover.
• PROTECT
  To cover or shield from danger or injury; to defend; to guard; to preserve in safety; as, a father protects his children. The gods of Greece protect you! Shak. Syn. -- To guard; shield; preserve. See Defend.
• GIVES
  Fetters.
• HAMMERER
  One who works with a hammer.
• METALLIFORM
  Having the form or structure of a metal.
• MOVABLE
  1. Capable of being moved, lifted, carried, drawn, turned, or conveyed, or in any way made to change place or posture; susceptible of motion; not fixed or stationary; as, a movable steam engine. 2. Changing from one time to another; as, movable
• CURVIROSTRES
  A group of passerine birds, including the creepers and nuthatches.
• SPIRALITY
  The quality or states of being spiral.
• PROTECTRESS; PROTECTRIX
  A woman who protects.
• CLOCKLIKE
  Like a clock or like clockwork; mechanical. Their services are clocklike, to be set Blackward and vorward at their lord's command. B. Jonson.
• CURVICAUDATE
  Having a curved or crooked tail.
• PIECER
  1. One who pieces; a patcher. 2. A child employed in spinning mill to tie together broken threads.
• GIVING
  1. The act of bestowing as a gift; a conferring or imparting. 2. A gift; a benefaction. Pope. 3. The act of softening, breaking, or yielding. "Upon the first giving of the weather." Addison. Giving in, a falling inwards; a collapse. -- Giving
• METALLIFACTURE
  The production and working or manufacture of metals. R. Park.
• EXCITO-MOTION
  Motion excited by reflex nerves. See Excito-motory.
• TERGIVERSATOR
  One who tergiversates; one who suffles, or practices evasion.
• SPARPIECE
  The collar beam of a roof; the spanpiece. Gwilt.
• MUSCULOSPIRAL
  Of or pertaining to the muscles, and taking a spiral course; -- applied esp. to a large nerve of the arm.
• WATER CLOCK
  An instrument or machine serving to measure time by the fall, or flow, of a certain quantity of water; a clepsydra.
• REEXCHANGE
  To exchange anew; to reverse .
• NERVIMOTION
  The movement caused in the sensory organs by external agents and transmitted to the muscles by the nerves. Dunglison.
• APPOSITION
  The state of two nouns or pronouns, put in the same case, without a connecting word between them; as, I admire Cicero, the orator. Here, the second noun explains or characterizes the first. Growth by apposition , a mode of growth characteristic
• TRICURVATE
  Curved in three directions; as, a tricurvate spicule (see Illust. of Spicule).
• SPIRAL
  Of or pertaining to a spiral; like a spiral. Spiral gear, or Spiral wheel , a gear resembling in general a spur gear, but having its teeth cut at an angle with its axis, or so that they form small portions of screws or spirals. -- Spiral gearing,
• IRREMOVABLE
  Not removable; immovable; inflexible. Shak. -- Ir`re*mov"a*bly, adv.
• THANKSGIVING
  1. The act of rending thanks, or expressing gratitude for favors or mercies. Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. 1 Tim. iv. 4. In the thanksgiving before meat. Shak. And taught by thee
• BIMETALLIST
  An advocate of bimetallism.