snowball

A round lump of snow pressed together, often for throwing in play.

• She threw a snowball at me.
• The children had a snowball fight in the garden.
• My snowball melted before I could throw it.

Common phrases: throw a snowball, snowball fight, make a snowball

A small cake, usually filled with cream and covered with chocolate and dried coconut.

• I ate a snowball with my tea.
• The bakery sells snowballs filled with fresh cream.
• Would you like a chocolate snowball for dessert?

Common phrases: chocolate snowball, coconut snowball, cream-filled snowball

To grow bigger very quickly, often becoming difficult to control.

• Our debts began to snowball.
• The problem snowballed into a crisis within days.
• Costs are snowballing as the project falls further behind.

How to use it: snowball into something (A small argument snowballed into a major dispute.)

Similar words: escalate, grow, multiply

Opposites: shrink, diminish

Common phrases: snowball into something, snowball out of control, costs snowball