rock barnacle
noun
See under barnacle1(def 1).
Words nearby rock barnacle
rocinante, rock, rock 'n' roll, rock and roll, rock and rye, rock barnacle, rock bass, rock beauty, rock blenny, rock bolt, rock boot
Origin of rock barnacle
First recorded in 1880–85
Definition for rock barnacle (2 of 2)
barnacle1
[ bahr-nuh-kuh l ]
/ ˈbɑr nə kəl /
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
11580–85; 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
OTHER WORDS FROM barnacle
bar·na·cled, adjectiveDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for rock 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 shellSee acorn barnacle, goose barnacle
a person or thing that is difficult to get rid of
Derived forms of barnacle
barnacled, adjectiveWord Origin for barnacle
C16: related to Late Latin bernicla, of obscure origin
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 rock 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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.