表达 “snowball effect” 描述 “一个情况或事件的规模、重要性就像滚雪球一样不断扩大，变化的速度也在加快”。“Snowball effect” 有时会被用来描述 “一个失控的情况”。“Snowball” 也可以作动词使用，表示计划、问题等 “滚雪球般迅速增大”。

例句
She invested in some shares and used the dividend payments to buy new shares to increase her portfolio. It’s a sort of snowball effect.
她投资了一些股票，并用股息购买了新的股票，以增加她的投资组合。这是一种滚雪球效应。

I only invited ten people to my party, but they brought their partners, who in turn brought their friends. It was a snowball effect.
我只邀请了十个人来参加聚会，但他们都带来了自己的同伴，同伴们又带来了他们的朋友们。这就好比滚雪球效应一般，人越来越多。

Because we didn’t deal with the PR issue when the news broke, more claims were made. The situation really snowballed.
由于消息传出时我们没有及时处理公关问题，结果有更多人提出了索赔。情况真的就像滚雪球一样，越来越糟。