To snowball

Since it’s the middle of a hot summer, I don’t think too many people will complain if I talk about snowballs today, not the noun “snowball” but the action verb “to snowball”.

Do you think snowballing is when you make a snowball? It’s actually very different. To snowball is when something increases in size, intensity, or importance at a rapidly accelerating rate.

Examples:
- Kim's health problems "snowballed" after she ignored the early warning signs.
- Carlo’s rude remark to his girlfriend “snowballed” into a heated argument.
- What started as a small lakefront concert has “snowballed” into an annual summer music festival.

The snowball metaphor is a figurative way to describe something’s quick escalation or growth, like when a real snowball rolls down a mountain and gets larger and faster the further it goes.