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snail's pace

noun

an extremely slow rate:
The work progresses at a snail's pace.

snail's pace

noun

a very slow or sluggish speed or rate

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Word History and Origins

Origin of snail's pace¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

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Idioms and Phrases

A very slow pace, as in They're making progress with testing the new vaccine, but at a snail's pace . [c. 1400]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Not that this was snail's pace law-making, far from it.

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In South Africa, Africa's biggest economy and a major carbon emitter, a $8.5bn foreign-aided transition project from the coal-sector was already moving at a snail's pace, and now there are fears that it may get derailed further.

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Bob Blackman MP, who drafted the Act, criticised the "snail's pace" in enforcing it, adding action was needed urgently as the sector is a "ticking time bomb".

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And parents of children who died after exposure to illegal or harmful content have previously criticised Ofcom for moving at a "snail's pace".

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Disaster was averted thanks to a defense that stiffened and an offense that started moving the ball at something beyond a snail’s pace.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

snail-paced snake

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