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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
barnacle
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Evolutionary Morphology Darwin himself had done extensive morphological work in a detailed study of barnacles during the 1850s.
▪ Keep an eye open and you may spot a barnacle goose or a Bewick's swan.
▪ The block of leafy branches, roots, mud, and piggybacking barnacles was boxed and hauled ashore.
▪ The ends of the boards were crusted with barnacles.
▪ The sea had worn little ruts in the wood and barnacles were clinging to it everywhere.
▪ This is the trade-off necessary to get permission to scrape off the barnacles.
▪ This will be difficult to carry out on barnacles, but comparatively easy for mussels, limpets or other snails.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
barnacle

Bernicle \Ber"ni*cle\, n. [OE. bernak, bernacle; cf. OF. bernac; prob. fr. LL. bernacula for hibernicula, bernicula, fr. Hibernia; the birds coming from Hibernia or Ireland. Cf. 1st Barnacle.] A bernicle goose. [Written also barnacle.]

Bernicle goose (Zo["o]l.), a goose ( Branta leucopsis), of Arctic Europe and Americ

  1. It was formerly believed that it hatched from the cirripeds of the sea ( Lepas), which were, therefore, called barnacles, goose barnacles, or Anatifers. The name is also applied to other related species. See Anatifa and Cirripedia.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
barnacle

early 13c., "species of wild goose;" as a type of "shellfish," first recorded 1580s. Often derived from a Celtic source (compare Breton bernik, a kind of shellfish), but the application to the goose predates that of the shellfish in English. The goose nests in the Arctic in summer and returns to Europe in the winter, hence the mystery surrounding its reproduction. It was believed in ancient superstition to hatch from barnacle's shell, possibly because the crustacean's feathery stalks resemble goose down. The scientific name of the crustacean, Cirripedes, is from Greek cirri "curls of hair" + pedes "feet."

Wiktionary
barnacle

n. 1 A marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia that attaches itself to submerged surfaces such as tidal rocks or the bottoms of ships. 2 The barnacle goose. 3 (context engineering slang English) In electrical engineering, a change made to a product on the manufacturing floor that was not part of the original product design. 4 (context computing slang English) On printed circuit boards, a change such as soldering a wire in order to connect two points, or addition such as an added resistor or capacitor, subassembly or daughterboard. 5 (context obsolete English) An instrument like a pair of pincers, to fix on the nose of a vicious horse while shoeing so as to make it more tractable. 6 (context archaic British English) A nickname for spectacles. 7 (context slang obsolete English) A good job, or snack easily obtained. vb. 1 To connect with or attach. 2 To press close against something.

WordNet
barnacle
  1. n. marine crustaceans with feathery food-catching appendages; free-swimming as larvae; as adults form a hard shell and live attached to submerged surfaces [syn: cerriped, cerripede]

  2. European goose smaller than the brant; breeds in the far north [syn: barnacle goose, Branta leucopsis]

Wikipedia
Barnacle

A barnacle is a type of arthropod constituting the infraclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosive settings. They are sessile (nonmotile) suspension feeders, and have two nektonic (active swimming) larval stages. Around 1,220 barnacle species are currently known. The name "Cirripedia" is Latin, meaning "curl-footed".

Barnacle (disambiguation)

A barnacle is an arthropod belonging to the infraclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea.

Barnacle may also refer to:

  • Barnacle (company)
  • Barnacle (surname)
  • Barnacle (slang), an electronic part manually installed onto a printed circuit board to correct a functional deficiency
  • Barnacle (programming), an obsolete file or program, often of unknown purpose, associated with a project
  • Seborrheic keratosis, a non-cancerous benign skin growth, known as the "barnacles of old age"
  • Barnacle (Half-Life), a fictional alien species in Half-Life
  • Barnacle (comics), a character from Marvel Comics
  • Barnacle, Warwickshire, a small hamlet in Warwickshire, England
  • "Barnacles", a 2002 song by Ugly Casanova from Sharpen Your Teeth
  • Barnacle, Wobbly lingo for someone who stays at the same job for some period of time
  • Barnacle (heraldry), a heraldic charge similar to a hempbreak
Barnacle (slang)

The word barnacle is a slang term used in electrical engineering to indicate a change made to a product on the manufacturing floor that was not part of the original product design. A barnacle is typically used to correct a defect in the product or as a way of enhancing the product with new functionality. A barnacle is normally a quick fix that is used until the product design can be redone incorporating the barnacle into the actual product so that when manufactured, the barnacle step in manufacturing is no longer required. A barnacle may also be added in the field in order to correct a design or manufacturing defect.

Barnacle (surname)

Barnacle is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

  • Gary Barnacle (born 1959), English musician
  • Nora Barnacle (1884–1951), wife of author James Joyce
  • Pete Barnacle, drummer for a variety of bands
  • Thomas Barnacle (1846-1921), Irish trade unionist

Usage examples of "barnacle".

Up and up the dreadful threat would fly, booming and echoing through all the narrow, dark and twisty flues, until it found out Barnacle, exactly as Mister Roberts had divined, squatting in some sooty nook and, if there was room enough to move his arms, a-picking of his nose.

His proper name was Absalom Brown, but his owner, Mister Roberts, called him Barnacle on account of his amazing powers of holding on.

Vases, dishes, ornaments, cups and plates, jugs, a silver teapot and a china bust of the queen flew through the air as if 13 of their own accord, and crashed and banged against walls and furnishings while the little black figure of Barnacle hopped and darted hither and thither, frantically seeking a way out.

With a scream of joy Barnacle darted under his outstretched arm, rushed across the room and hurled himself at the drawn curtains.

Wood snapped, glass exploded and Barnacle, speckled with splinters, billowed through yellow velvet and out into the late afternoon!

Wonderingly he contemplated the prospect of a Barnacle improved, a comfortable Barnacle, owning, among other things, a smaller, more ignorant Barnacle, who would fetch his food and beer.

The wall had sprouted an enormous pair of arms, and Barnacle found himself seized in a grip there was no escaping.

For answer, Barnacle twisted his head until it nearly came off at the neck and did what he always did.

The brandy came, and Mister Gosling, with a reproachful look at Barnacle, poured it over his bleeding arm.

He just sat there, with his hands on his knees, like he was wondering whether or not to give Barnacle a clout round the ear.

Although the night was warm, Barnacle, like Adam before him, felt his nakedness and shivered.

Barnacle had naturally tried to bite the hand that scrubbed him, he had meanly interposed the brush, so Barnacle had broken a tooth.

Mister Gosling firmly, as if, by washing alone, and without a paper or a penny changing hands, Barnacle had passed into his ownership.

Somewhere, in the blackness of time past, Barnacle must have had a mother.

But still, it was plain that the big man expected an answer, so Barnacle did his best.