snowball

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun plant having heads of fragrant white trumpet-shaped flowers; grows in sandy arid regions
  2. noun ball of ice cream covered with coconut and usually chocolate sauce
  3. noun ball of crushed ice with fruit syrup

Etymology

From Middle English snoweball, snoweballe, snaweballe, snayballe, equivalent to snow + ball. Cognate with Scots snawbaw, German Schneeball, Luxembourgish Schnéiball, Dutch sneeuwbal, Afrikaans sneeubal, Limburgish snieëbal, West Frisian sniebal, Saterland Frisian Sneebaal, Sneebal, Swedish snöboll, Elfdalian sniųoboll, Danish snebold, Norwegian Bokmål snøball, Norwegian Nynorsk snøball and Icelandic snjóbolti.

In classic literature

Synonyms

sweet sand verbena, Abronia elliptica

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