Meaning

noun freshwater or marine or terrestrial gastropod mollusk usually having an external enclosing spiral shell

verb gather snails

noun edible terrestrial snail usually served in the shell with a sauce of melted butter and garlic

originFrom Middle English snayl, snail, from the Old English sneġel, from Proto-Germanic *snagilaz. Cognate with Low German Snagel, Snâel, Snâl (“snail”), German Schnegel (“slug”). Compare also Old Norse snigill, from Proto-Germanic *snigilaz.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0