barnacle

[ bahr-nuh-kuhl ]

See synonyms for barnacle on Thesaurus.com

noun

any marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia, usually having a calcareous shell, being either stalked (goose barnacle ) and attaching itself to ship bottoms and floating timber, or stalkless (rock barnacle, or acorn barnacle ) and attaching itself to rocks, especially in the intertidal zone.
a person or thing that clings tenaciously.

Origin of barnacle

First recorded in 1580–85; perhaps a conflation of barnacle “barnacle goose” with Cornish brennyk, Irish báirneach “limpet,” Welsh brenig “limpets,” reflecting the folk belief that such geese, whose breeding grounds were unknown, were engendered from rotten ships' planking; see barnacle goose

Other words from barnacle

bar·na·cled, adjective

Other definitions for barnacle (2 of 2)

barnacle²

[ bahr-nuh-kuhl ]

noun

Usually barnacles. an instrument with two hinged branches for pinching the nose of an unruly horse.
barnacles, British Dialect. spectacles (def. 3).

Origin of barnacle

1350–1400; Middle English bernacle bit, diminutive of bernac<Old French < ?

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use barnacle in a sentence

Internet media entrepreneur Nick Denton is a person to whom harsh judgments adhere like barnacles.
The Gospel According to Nick Denton—What Next For The Gawker Founder? | Lloyd Grove | December 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The bottom was very foul, covered with long streamers of slimy grass and encrusted with barnacles.
The Rival Campers Afloat | Ruel Perley Smith
Barnacles had fastened upon the hull, and long tresses of green, dank seaweed hung trailing from the iron paddle-wheels.
The Boys of '61 | Charles Carleton Coffin.
One of them discovered that the boat's bottom was covered with barnacles.
South American Fights and Fighters | Cyrus Townsend Brady
Pretty shells gleam here and there; and on the face of the rock there are more limpets, barnacles and mussels than we can count.
On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith

I cannot tell you how much relieved I am to hear that toast has been substituted for barnacles in your diet.
Us and the Bottleman | Edith Ballinger Price

British Dictionary definitions for barnacle

barnacle

/ (ˈbɑːnəkəl) /

noun

any of various marine crustaceans of the subclass Cirripedia that, as adults, live attached to rocks, ship bottoms, etc. They have feathery food-catching cirri protruding from a hard shell: See acorn barnacle, goose barnacle
a person or thing that is difficult to get rid of

Origin of barnacle

C16: related to Late Latin bernicla, of obscure origin

Derived forms of barnacle

barnacled, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for barnacle

barnacle

[ bär′nə-kəl ]

Any of various small marine crustaceans of the subclass Cirripedia that form a hard shell in the adult stage and attach themselves to underwater surfaces, such as rocks, the bottoms of ships, and the skin of whales.

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