snowballn.
/ˈsnəʊbɔːl/, U.S. /ˈsnoʊˌbɔl/, /ˈsnoʊˌbɑl/, Caribbean English /ˈsnoːbɑl/, Bermudian English /ˈsnəʊbɔəl/, /ˈsnəʊbɔːl/, /ˈsnɵːbɔəl/, /ˈsnɵːbɔːl/ 1. † c. Scottish. In the figurative phrase to cast snowballs, to be reserved or distant. Obsolete.
a. A ball of snow, esp. one made of a size convenient for throwing by hand.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > snow > [noun] > a ball of snow
snowballc1400
the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > [noun] > throwing missiles > a projectile > snowball
snowballc1400
c1400 Brut cxcviii Meny of þe citee..caste oppon him meny snoweballes, and meny oþer reproues dede him.
1483 Cath. Angl. 346/2 Snayballe, floccus, nivenodium.
1533 J. Heywood Play of Wether sig. Diii All my pleasure is in..makynge of snow ballys and throwyng the same.
1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor iii. v. 21 My belly is as cold as if I had swallowed snow-balles.
1657 J. Trapp Comm. Job xxxviii. 22 We see..what paines they take to rake and scrape together snow to make a Snow-ball.
1677 A. Horneck Great Law of Consideration iv. 149 As wise an act, as to hope to be warm by..surrounding thy self with snow-balls.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. i. 20 If I take a snow ball into my hand I shall be satisfied of its coldness by my sensation.
1789 E. Darwin Bot. Garden: Pt. II ii. 25 (note) If a piece of camphor be immersed in a snow-ball.
1816 Ld. Byron Swiss Jrnl. in Wks. 180/2 I made a snowball and pelted Hobhouse with it.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) xxx. 258 By-and-by the sludge which we passed through..became pancakes and snow-balls.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 158 When a schoolboy makes a snowball, he squeezes a handful or two of light snow into a hard compact lump.
b. In allusive use (common in the 17th cent.). a snowball's chance in hell: no chance at all; cf. hell n. and int. Phrases 6i. Also elliptical as a snowball's chance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > progressive increase > typical example of
snowball1612
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > despair, hopelessness > expression of despair [phrase]
not a hope (in hell)1923
a snowball's chance in hell1931
a snowball's chance1934
(a)
(b)1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 33 The Rebels tooke their way towards Yorke... But their Snow-ball did not gather as it went.1645 E. Pagitt Heresiogr. 3 Before this snow-ball grew greater by rolling, Count Mansfield raiseth Forces.1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης xix. 170 Such a Snowball hee might easily gather by rowling through those cold and dark provinces of ignorance and leudness.(c)1931 Amer. Speech 6 435 As much chance as a snowball in hell.1934 Esquire Sept. 27 He wouldn't have a snowball's chance with you.1961 K. Vonnegut Sirens of Titan (1962) v. 129 The Army of Mars didn't have the chance of a snowball in hell.1966 J. Porter Sour Cream vii. 94 One telephone call from Melkin..and Babak wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell.1977 Amer. Machinist 1 June 27 There is not a snowball's chance in Haiti of making the deadline on an across-the-board basis.1979 A. Hailey Overload (new ed.) i. i. 4 ‘Told 'em there wasn't a snowball's chance,’ a woman assistant dispatcher called over.1612 J. Webster White Divel sig. Hv Your good heart gathers like a snow-ball, Now your affection's cold.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 519 They passed through Fraunce, Germanie, Hungarie, their company (like a snow~ball) encreasing as they went.
1674 Govt. Tongue vi. 75 For reports we know like snow balls gather still the farther they roule.
1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 181 For they are like a Snow-ball, and intend to gather Company as they go.
1818 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 33 610 His army, increasing like a snowball.
1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. i. 43 The caravan, like a snow-ball, increases in bulk as it rolls on.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > discourtesy > be discourteous [verb (intransitive)] > not be affable
to make oneself strange1390
to make (it) strangec1405
to make (it) strange1598
to wait one's distance1600
to wait one's distance1642
starch1698
prim1721
to cast snowballs1725
to put on the stranger1809
to show the cold shoulder1816
stiffen1864
to play hard to get1929
1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd iv. i. 58 I trow sae,—Lasses will come to at last, Tho' for a While they maun their Snaw-baws cast.
1821 W. Liddle Poems 236 The lasses a' their snaw-baws cast, For fear we should betray.
d. The pastime of snow-balling.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > snowballing
snowball1709
snowballing1861
1709 Brit. Apollo 30 Sept.–5 Oct. A Game at Snow-ball.
e. transferred. A scheme or project that relies for its growth on a snowball effect (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > planning > [noun] > a plan > that relies for its growth on snowball effect
snowball1892
1892 Whitehall Rev. 17 Sept. 7/1 The system of ‘Snowballs’ is multiplication at a very rapid rate, each giver being obliged to bind himself to find a certain number of others who will not only give, but bind themselves each to find an equal number of contributors on the same terms.
1923 H. C. Bailey Mr. Fortune's Pract. v. 141 It's just like a snowball... When you want subscriptions and have a snowball where every one has to get some one else to subscribe.
1927 E. F. Benson Lucia in London iii. 70 Will she just pick up acquaintances, and pick up more from them, like one of those charity snowballs?
f. In bingo, etc.: a cash prize which accumulates through successive games until it is won.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > bingo or lotto > [noun] > type of prize
snowball1949
1949 S. P. Llewellyn Troopships 5 Last house... May I remind you, gentlemen, that the snowball is now worth over fourteen pounds?
1960 Guardian 2 Dec. 23/5 The British Legion..club..was more or less built on Bingo... The crowds, drawn by a ‘snowball’ on a lucky number which had reached £16, had been growing..too large.
1971 A. Ross Huddersfield Job 129 The snowball—a sort of continuing competition in which the cash prizes, if not won, are carried forward to swell next week's total.
1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 15 Dec. 13/2 Tote Baseball Nos. 20 & 13 & 6 Three winners. Snowball not won.
2.
a. Cookery. One or other of various dishes or confections intended to resemble a ball of snow in appearance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > [noun] > other confections or sweet dishes
pionade1302
spinee1381
pokerouncea1450
strawberry cream1523
pannag1540
alkermes1547
sugar-bread1587
snow1597
flammick1600
Norfolk fool1623
fool1653
chocolate cream1702
meringue1706
steeple cream1747
trifle1755
snowball1769
sweet bread1777
marrangle1809
meteor1820
mimpins1820
Nesselrode1835
meringué1845
Swiss cream1845
turban1846
coconut cream1847
panforte1865
yokan1875
bombe1892
Eton mess1896
meringue Chantilly1901
streusel1909
rocky road1920
ringocandy1922
stem ginger1922
dulce de leche1923
kissel1924
some-more1925
cream-crowdie1929
Pavlova cake1929
s'more1934
cranachan1946
sugar-on-snow1947
calavera1948
suji halwa1955
vacherin1960
zuppa inglese1961
brûlée1966
pav1966
delice1967
banoffi1974
macaroon1985
Nanaimo1991
macaron1993
1769 E. Raffald Experienced Eng. House-keeper x. 241 To make Snow Balls. Pare five large baking Apples, make a little good hot Paste, and roll your Apples in it,..make iceing for them..and ice them all over with it about a quarter of an Inch thick.
1854 ‘M. Harland’ Alone xxx A dozen loaves of cake, and ever so many snow-balls.
1877 Cassell's Dict. Cookery 887 Fry the snowballs till they are lightly set.
1941 J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 51 Snowball, dip of vanilla ice cream.
b. U.S., Caribbean, and Bermudian English. Shaved or chipped ice flavoured with (brightly-coloured) syrup; (as count noun) a portion of this.ⓘ
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > ices > [noun] > water-ice
water-ice1789
snowball1894
shave ice1953
snow-cone1969
1894 San Antonio (Texas) Daily Light 17 Aug. A dozen children..each ponderously sucking a snowball.
1904 Penny Cuts (Trinidad) 25 June in L. Winer Dict. Eng./Creole Trinidad & Tobago 831/2 Fry salt fish and snow ball.
1952 Sunday Royal Gaz. (Bermuda) 15 June 12/3 In those days the snowballs cost only a penny—big ones were 3d.
1953 H. P. Morrison in Caribbean Anthol. Short Stories 137 Customers of every age milled round to buy ‘snow-ball’—cool crushed ice in cheap glass tumblers with red, yellow or even green syrup oozing slowly through the crystalline mass.
1997 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 8 Sept. a11/1 The community gathered to buy snowball from the cartman.
2006 Atlanta Jrnl.-Constit. (Nexis) 26 July 1 b From this window, the 26-year-old Katrina evacuee dispenses genuine New Orleans snowballs: snowflake-thin ice saturated in candy-flavored syrup and topped with condensed milk.
c. One of various cocktails (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > cocktail > [noun] > other cocktails
balderdash1611
twist1699
Coke-upon-Littleton1740
julep1787
camphor julep1788
switchel1790
sling1792
mint sling1804
mint julep1809
swizzle1813
smash1850
rattlesnake1862
sour1862
Collins1865
John Collins1865
split1882
rickey1893
Picon punch1900
stinger1901
Bronx1906
Jack Rose1912
Pimm's1912
orange blossom1919
Americano1928
Merry Widow1930
snowball1930
atomic cocktail1941
Sazarac cocktail1941
grasshopper1949
Bellini1955
saketini1959
wallbanger1970
caipirinha1973
Long Island ice tea1978
Alabama slammer1980
Long Island iced tea1981
1930 Savoy Cocktail Bk. 150 Snowball Cocktail. 1/ 6 Crème de Violette. 1/ 6 White Crème de Menthe. 1/ 6 Anisette. 1/ 6 Sweet Cream. 1/ 3 Dry Gin.
1963 D. A. Embury Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (ed. 2) 289 Snow Ball. A Silver Fizz with whisky in place of the gin and ginger ale in place of the charged water.
1966 J. Doxat Booth's Handbk. Cocktails & Mixed Drinks xiv. 145 Snowball. Ice cube in tall glass. Generous measure of Advocaat; top with Fizzy Lemonade; decorate with slice of Lemon.
1972 A. Draper Death Penalty ii. 16 Ben ordered the drinks—a snowball for Jeannie and whisky mac for himself.
1979 R. Barnard Posthumous Papers xvii. 158 She ordered a snowball... ‘I'm not used to coming into a pub on my own.’
3. slang or jocular. (See quots.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [noun]
AfriceOE
MoorOE
EthiopOE
blomana1225
Ethiopiana1325
blue mana1387
Moriana1387
black mana1398
blackamoor1525
black Morian1526
black boy1530
molen1538
Nigro1548
Nigrite1554
Negro1555
neger1568
nigger1577
blackfellow1598
Kaffir1607
black1614
thick-lipsa1616
Hubsheea1627
black African1633
blackface1704
sambo1704
Cuffee1713
Nigritian1738
fellow1753
Cuff1755
blacky1759
mungo1768
Quashie1774
darkie?1775
snowball1785
blue skin1788
Moriscan1794
sooterkin1821
nigc1832
tar-brush1835–40
Jim Crow1838
sooty1838
mokec1847
dinge1848
monkey1849
Siddi1849
dark1853
nigre1853
Negroid1860
kink1865
Sam1867
Rastus1882
schvartze1886
race man1896
possum1900
shine1908
jigaboo1909
smoke1913
golliwog1916
jazzbo1918
boogie1923
jig1924
melanoderm1924
spade1928
jit1931
Zulu1931
eight ball1932
Afro1942
nigra1944
spook1945
munt1948
Tom1956
boot1957
soul brother1957
nig-nog1959
member1962
pork chop1963
splib1964
blood1965
non-voter1966
moolinyan1967
Oreo1968
boogaloo1972
pongo1972
moolie1988
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Snowball, a jeering appellation for a negroe.
1819 T. Moore Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress (ed. 3) 45 (note) Lily-whites (or Snow-balls), Negroes.
1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xlvi The sweep was passing by, and I called him ‘snow-ball’.
4.
a. The Guelder rose, Viburnum opulus, or one of its clusters of white flowers. Also used for other species of Viburnum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > viburnums or guelder rose and allies > [noun]
bendwithc1440
opier1548
opulus1548
ople1551
dwarf plane tree1578
water elder1578
whitten1578
guelder rose1597
rose elder1597
wayfaring man's tree1597
wayfaring tree1597
opiet1601
cotton tree1633
viorne1637
mealy tree1640
laurustinus1664
stinking tree1681
black haw1688
laurel-thyme1693
laurustine1693
viburnum1731
wayfaring shrub1731
May rose1753
pembina1760
snowball tree1760
mealtree1785
stink-tree1795
cherry-wood1821
snowball1828
sloe1846
withe-rod1846
lithy-tree1866
nannyberry1867
king's crown1879
stag bush1884
snowball bush1931
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Snow-ball, the Guelder Rose.
1838 R. Southey Eng. Eclogues (rev. ed.) in Poet. Wks. III. 4 In spring the lilac and the snow-ball flower.
1850 Beck's Florist July 171 Here's snowballs, and waxberries, and mock-orange flowers, and lilacs.
1880 C. E. Bessey Bot. 518 Many species [of Caprifoliaceæ] are ornamental—e.g...Viburnum, the Snowball.
1948 W. Arnold-Forster Shrubs for Milder Counties iv. 184 V. Opulus sterile, the familiar ‘Snowball’, is..quite good as a hedge.
b. U.S. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1834 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. II. 121 The Swamp Snowball, Hydrangea quercifolia,..found on the broken sandy banks bordering small watercourses.
1902 Webster's Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Suppl. Wild snowball.., the New Jersey tea (Ceanothus Americanus), so called from its clusters of small white flowers.
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Little snowball, the button-bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis.
Compounds
C1. Miscellaneous, as snowball chrysanthemum, snowball cocktail, snowball fight, snowball fritters, snowball-like adv., snowball vendor, snowball war.
ΚΠ
1662 H. Hibbert Syntagma Theologicum 188 Fame (snow-ball like) crescit eundo.
1877 Cassell's Dict. Cookery 887 Snowball Fritters.
1890 J. D. Champlin & A. E. Bostwick Young Folks' Cycl. Games & Sports 660/1 Snowball fights, contests between two parties armed with snowballs.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 6 Jan. 4/1 Giant snowball chrysanthemums.
1901 ‘I. Maclaren’ Young Barbarians iv As the snowball war was a serious affair.
1930Snowball cocktail [see sense 2c]. 1948 Sun (Baltimore) 27 Aug. 24/3 Snowball vendors did a rush business.
C2. So West Frisian sniebalbeam, Dutch sneeuwbalboom, Swedish snöbollsbuske, -träd.
snowball bush n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > viburnums or guelder rose and allies > [noun]
bendwithc1440
opier1548
opulus1548
ople1551
dwarf plane tree1578
water elder1578
whitten1578
guelder rose1597
rose elder1597
wayfaring man's tree1597
wayfaring tree1597
opiet1601
cotton tree1633
viorne1637
mealy tree1640
laurustinus1664
stinking tree1681
black haw1688
laurel-thyme1693
laurustine1693
viburnum1731
wayfaring shrub1731
May rose1753
pembina1760
snowball tree1760
mealtree1785
stink-tree1795
cherry-wood1821
snowball1828
sloe1846
withe-rod1846
lithy-tree1866
nannyberry1867
king's crown1879
stag bush1884
snowball bush1931
1931 W. N. Clute Common Names Plants 48 Guelder rose, a common name of the snow-ball bush.., is said to be properly elder rose.
1979 Seymour (Indiana) Daily Tribune 19 May 1/3 The ‘snowball bush’ in his side yard is in full bloom.
snowball tree n. the Guelder rose (cf. 4a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > viburnums or guelder rose and allies > [noun]
bendwithc1440
opier1548
opulus1548
ople1551
dwarf plane tree1578
water elder1578
whitten1578
guelder rose1597
rose elder1597
wayfaring man's tree1597
wayfaring tree1597
opiet1601
cotton tree1633
viorne1637
mealy tree1640
laurustinus1664
stinking tree1681
black haw1688
laurel-thyme1693
laurustine1693
viburnum1731
wayfaring shrub1731
May rose1753
pembina1760
snowball tree1760
mealtree1785
stink-tree1795
cherry-wood1821
snowball1828
sloe1846
withe-rod1846
lithy-tree1866
nannyberry1867
king's crown1879
stag bush1884
snowball bush1931
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 317 Snowball tree, Viburnum.
1783 Encycl. Brit. X. 8713/2 This tree when in bloom exhibits a singularly fine appearance; the flowers..are collected numerously into large globular umbels round like a ball; hence, it is sometimes called snowball-trees.
1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. Northern U.S. (1860) 168 The well-known Snow-ball Tree..is a cultivated state, with the whole cyme turned into large sterile flowers.
1902 E. T. Cook Trees & Shrubs for Eng. Gardens 443 Snowball tree..is too well known to need description.
1973 A. Bonar Shrubs & Decorative Trees iii. 86 The snowball tree..is more attractive florally.
C3. Used to denote increase by a kind of geometrical progression, as snowball contribution, snowball effect, snowball letter, snowball prize, snowball system, etc.
ΚΠ
1897 Westm. Gaz. 8 Apr. 7/2 An anonymous ‘snowball’ contribution has been started.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 28 Jan. 6/1 The scheme of old-age pensions on the snowball system... They offer magnificent terms to any assurer who gets them ten other assurers,..and so on, like the rolling snowball.
1941 I. L. Idriess Great Boomerang xxxii. 251 It will not be the amount to be spent that will be considered, but the snowball effect of the resulting benefits.
1963 Daily Tel. 23 Jan. 20/8 A ‘snowball’ prize played for evening after evening at a bingo club is legal, provided the management gives the prize money.
1979 P. Niesewand Member of Club xviii. 142 Hundreds of families emigrate [from South Africa] every month... Each one has a snowball effect. Other families start thinking: should we leave also?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
snowballv.
/ˈsnəʊbɔːl/, U.S. /ˈsnoʊˌbɔl/, /ˈsnoʊˌbɑl/ 1.
a. intransitive. To form balls or masses of snow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > snow > snow or fall (of snow) [verb (intransitive)] > from specific accumulation
snowball1684
wreathe1861
1684 O. Heywood Autobiogr., Diaries, & Event Bks. (1883) III. 343 It fell a considerable snow... I..found it very dangerous way, for it snow-balled on my horses feet.
b. figurative. To increase or grow like a snowball rolled across snow; to accumulate or gather momentum at an ever-increasing rate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > move at specific rate [verb (intransitive)] > increase speed > at ever-increasing rate
snowball1929
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [verb (intransitive)] > progressively
spiral1922
snowball1929
escalate1959
1929 E. M. Nicholson Study of Birds 39 Some flocks are freshly formed each day, and recruits can be watched joining the original members at intervals until it snowballs up to its full size.
1930 Times 25 Mar. 23/5 The debts continue to ‘snowball’ in alarming fashion.
1934 Sun (Baltimore) 9 Nov. 26/7 The [housing] program in Maryland is ‘snowballing’.
1967 R. Lehmann Swan in Evening iii. 104 The success of those classes delighted and amused her. How polyglot they became and how they snowballed.
1969 New Yorker 19 Apr. 94/2 When a man knows what to look for, his value snowballs.
1973 Lebende Sprachen 18 69/2 Management must appreciate the extra profit that snow~balls from making use of advanced techniques.
1976 Ilkeston Advertiser 10 Dec. 15/4 Anyone is welcome to join in at any time during the day. A coach will ferry people around the circuit and singers usually ‘snowball’ throughout the day.
2. transitive. To throw a snowball at (a person); to pelt with snowballs. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > throw [verb (transitive)] > a missile or projectile > snowballs
snowball1850
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific thing > strike with specific thing [verb (transitive)] > strike with an object > with something thrown > with snowballs
snowball1850
1850 L. Sawyer Way Sketches (1926) iii. 46 Our men amused themselves with snowballing each other.
1854 B. P. Shillaber Life & Sayings Mrs. Partington 257 He had snowballed the cattle into a frenzy.
1855 in H. Clarke New Dict. Eng. Lang.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 26 Feb. 2/3 The..Opposition..could do nothing but snowball the other side with Pigott all the evening.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 24 Apr. 10/1 To hear the old gentleman tell how he had actually snowballed Keats.
3. intransitive. To throw snowballs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > throw [verb (intransitive)] > throw a missile > snowballs
snowball1852
1852 F. A. Buck Let. 18 Dec. in Yankee Trader in Gold Rush (1930) 112 At first we snow-balled, the whole town engaging in the sport like school boys.
1860 J. E. Worcester Dict. Eng. Lang.
1866 C. M. Yonge Dove in Eagle's Nest ix Christina..had been watching them snowballing in the castle court.
Derivatives
ˈsnowˌballing n. the action or pastime of making and throwing snowballs; also figurative and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > [adjective] > of or relating to increase in speed > at ever-increasing rate
snowballing1861
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > increasing progressively
feeding1641
rolling1719
snowballing1861
spiralling1944
escalatory1965
the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > [noun] > throwing missiles > snowballs
ballingc1600
snowballing1861
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > snowballing
snowball1709
snowballing1861
the world > movement > rate of motion > [noun] > increasing rate of movement or progress > at ever-increasing rate
snowballing1966
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > progressive increase
mo and moOE
crescendo1785
spiral1931
escalation1938
spiralling1944
snowballing1966
1861 F. A. Buck Let. 20 Jan. in Yankee Trader in Gold Rush (1930) 186 Christmas we had a nice lot of egg nog and cake and snow balling.
1870 T. B. Aldrich Story Bad Boy xii. 124 Snow-balling at school, skating on the mill-pond,..were sports no less exhilarating.
1887 H. Smart Cleverly Won iv. 28 They skated,..and at times even relaxed so far as to fall to snowballing.
1887 Times (Weekly ed.) 30 Dec. 10/1 The mobbing and snowballing of Mr. Gladstone's party.
1941 Sun (Baltimore) 3 Nov. 14/1 The constantly snow-balling defense effort may cut into the everyday things we use in normal civilian existence.
1966 Word Study Dec. 4/1 Dubious meaning..starts a snow~balling that soon places the intended meaning beyond retrieval.
1971 Daily Tel. 29 Dec. 10 The snowballing success of Alan Ayckbourn's plays abroad..is a constant surprise to him.
1973 Times 14 Aug. 3/3 The ‘snowballing’ technique by which researchers were introduced to one drug taker; who introduced a second and so on.
1977 N.Y. Times 16 Jan. iv. 19/3 Mr. Kissinger's pet theory of ‘linkage’, a kind of snowballing of détente, had to be given up.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1400v.1684