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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Snail \Snail\ (sn[=a]l), noun [OE. snaile, AS. sn[ae]gel, snegel, sn[ae]gl; akin to G. schnecke, OHG. snecko, Dan. snegl, Icel. snigill.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any one of numerous species of terrestrial air-breathing gastropods belonging to the genus Helix and many allied genera of the family {Helicid[ae]}. They are abundant in nearly all parts of the world except the arctic regions, and feed almost entirely on vegetation; a land snail. (b) Any gastropod having a general resemblance to the true snails, including fresh-water and marine species. See {Pond snail}, under {Pond}, and {Sea snail}.
2. Hence, a drone; a slow-moving person or thing.
3. (Mech.) A spiral cam, or a flat piece of metal of spirally curved outline, used for giving motion to, or changing the position of, another part, as the hammer tail of a striking clock.
4. A tortoise; in ancient warfare, a movable roof or shed to protect besiegers; a testudo. [Obs.]
They had also all manner of gynes [engines] . . . that needful is [in] taking or sieging of castle or of city, as snails, that was naught else but hollow pavises and targets, under the which men, when they fought, were heled [protected], . . . as the snail is in his house; therefore they cleped them snails. --Vegetius (Trans.).
5. (Bot.) The pod of the sanil clover.
{Ear snail}, {Edible snail}, {Pond snail}, etc. See under {Ear}, {Edible}, etc.
{Snail borer} (Zo["o]l.), a boring univalve mollusk; a drill.
{Snail clover} (Bot.), a cloverlike plant ({Medicago scuttellata}, also, {M. Helix}); -- so named from its pods, which resemble the shells of snails; -- called also {snail trefoil}, {snail medic}, and {beehive}.
{Snail flower} (Bot.), a leguminous plant ({Phaseolus Caracalla}) having the keel of the carolla spirally coiled like a snail shell.
{Snail shell} (Zo["o]l.), the shell of snail.
{Snail trefoil}. (Bot.) See {Snail clover}, above.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Beehive \Bee"hive'\, noun A hive for a swarm of bees. Also used figuratively.
Note: A common and typical form of beehive was a domeshaped inverted basket, whence certain ancient Irish and Scotch architectural remains are called beehive houses.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
beehive
noun
1: any workplace where people are very busy
2: a structure that provides a natural habitation for bees; as in a hollow tree [syn: {hive}]
3: a hairdo resembling a beehive
4: a man-made receptacle that houses a swarm of bees [syn: {hive}]
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