n. One of many small gastropods.n. Specifically— A member of the family Helicidæ in a broad sense; a terrestrial air-breathing mollusk with stalks on which the eyes are situated, and with a spiral or helicoid shell which has no lid or operculum, as the common garden-snail, Helix hortensis, or edible snail, H. pomatia. There are many hundred species, of numerous genera and several subfamilies. In the phrases below are noted some of the common British species which have vernacular names. See Helicidæ, and cuts under Gasteropoda and Pulmonata.n. A mollusk like the above, but shell-less or nearly so; a slug.n. An aquatic pulmonate gastropod with an operculate spiral shell, living in fresh water; a pond-snail or river-snail; a limneid. See Limnæidæ.n. A littoral or marine, not pulmonate, gastropod with a spiral shell like a snail's; a sea-snail, as a periwinkle or any member of the Littorinidæ; a salt-water snail.n. Hence A slow, lazy, stupid person.n. A tortoise.n. Milit., a protective shed, usually called tortoise or testudo.n. A spiral piece of machinery somewhat resembling a snail; specifically, the piece of metal forming part of the striking work of a clock. See cut under snail-wheel.n. In anatomy, the cochlea of the ear.n. plural Same as snail-clover.n. Helix fusca, a delicate species peculiar to the British Isles, found in bushy places.n. A snail-bore; an oystermen's name for various shells injurious to the beds, as the drills or borers, particularly of the geuera Urosalpinx and Natica. See snail-bore.To move slowly or lazily, like a snail.To give the form of a snail-shell to; make spirally winding.