1. barnacle(n = noun.animal) cirriped, cirripede - marine crustaceans with feathery food-catching appendages; free-swimming as larvae; as adults form a hard shell and live attached to submerged surfaces;
is a kind of crustacean
is a member of cirripedia, subclass cirripedia
has particulars: acorn barnacle, balanus balanoides, rock barnacle, goose barnacle, gooseneck barnacle, lepas fascicularis
2. barnacle(n = noun.animal) barnacle goose, branta leucopsis - European goose smaller than the brant; breeds in the far north;
is a kind of goose
is a member of branta, genus branta
Any cirriped crustacean adhering to rocks, floating timber, ships, etc., esp.
A bernicle goose. [1913 Webster]
1. An instrument for pinching a horse's nose, and thus restraining him.
"[Formerly used in the
"The barnacles . . . give pain almost equal to that of the switch." [1913 Webster]
2. Spectacles; -- so called from their resemblance to the barnacles used by farriers. Dickens. [1913 Webster]
barnacle, n.
1 any of various species of small marine crustaceans of the class Cirripedia which in adult form cling to rocks, ships' bottoms, etc.
2 a tenacious attendant or follower who cannot easily be shaken off.
Idiom:
barnacle goose an Arctic goose, Branta leucopsis, which visits Britain in winter.
Derivative:
barnacled adj.
Etymology:
ME bernak (= med.L bernaca), of unkn. orig.
acorn barnacle, barnacle goose, goose barnacle, gooseneck barnacle, rock barnacle