The Collaborative International Dictionary
Patella \Pa*tel"la\, n.; pl. Patell[ae]. [L., a small pan, the kneepan, dim. of patina, patena, a pan, dish.]
A small dish, pan, or vase.
(Anat.) The kneepan; the cap of the knee.
(Zo["o]l.) A genus of marine gastropods, including many species of limpets. The shell has the form of a flattened cone. The common European limpet ( Patella vulgata) is largely used for food.
(Bot.) A kind of apothecium in lichens, which is orbicular, flat, and sessile, and has a special rim not a part of the thallus.
Limpet \Lim"pet\ (l[i^]m"p[e^]t), n. [Prob. through French fr. L. lepas, -adis, Gr. lepa`s, -a`dos.] (Zo["o]l.)
In a general sense, any hatshaped, or conical, gastropod shell.
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Any one of many species of marine shellfish of the order Docoglossa, mostly found adhering to rocks, between tides.
Note: The common European limpets of the genus Patella (esp. Patella vulgata) are extensively used as food. The common New England species is Acm[ae]a testudinalis. Numerous species of limpets occur on the Pacific coast of America, some of them of large size.
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Hence: Somthing or someone that clings tenaciously to another object or person; specifically a military explosive device having magnets allowing it to cling to a metallic target object, such as the hull of a ship.
3. Any species of Siphonaria, a genus of limpet-shaped Pulmonifera, living between tides, on rocks.
A keyhole limpet. See Fissurella.