Lexic.us

Definition of Barnacle

1. Noun. Marine crustaceans with feathery food-catching appendages; free-swimming as larvae; as adults form a hard shell and live attached to submerged surfaces.

2. Noun. European goose smaller than the brant; breeds in the far north.

Definition of Barnacle

1. n. Any cirriped crustacean adhering to rocks, floating timber, ships, etc., esp. (a) the sessile species (genus Balanus and allies), and (b) the stalked or goose barnacles (genus Lepas and allies). See Cirripedia, and Goose barnacle.

2. n. A bernicle goose.

3. n. An instrument for pinching a horse's nose, and thus restraining him.

Definition of Barnacle

1. Noun. A marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia that attaches itself to submerged surfaces such as tidal rocks or the bottoms of ships. ¹

2. Noun. The barnacle goose. ¹

3. Noun. (context: engineering slang) In electrical engineering, a change made to a product on the manufacturing floor that was not part of the original product design. ¹

4. Noun. (context: computing slang) 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. ¹

5. Noun. (obsolete) 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. ¹

6. Noun. (archaic British) A nickname for spectacles. ¹

7. Noun. (slang obsolete) A good job, or snack easily obtained. ¹

8. Verb. To connect with or attach. ¹

9. Verb. To press close against something. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Barnacle

1. a shellfish [n -S] - See also: shellfish

Medical Definition of Barnacle

1. 1. Any cirriped marine crustacean free swimming in the larval state, but permanently fixed as adults, adhering to rocks, floating timber, ships, etc. There are some 800 described species, grouped in several genera, including lepas, balanus, scalpellum, and the stalked or goose barnacles (genus Lepas and allies). 2. Barnacle eater, a bark louse (Ceroplastes cirripediformis) of the orange and quince trees in Florida. The female scale curiously resembles a sessile barnacle in form. 3. An instrument for pinching a horse's nose, and thus restraining him. 4. Spectacles; so called from their resemblance to the barnacles used by farriers. Origin: Prob. From E. Barnacle a kind of goose, which was popularly supposed to grow from this shellfish. Source: Websters Dictionary (03 Jul 1999)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Barnacle

barn burner barn burners barn dance barn door barn doors barn find barn finds barn millet barn owl barn owls

barn spider barn star barn swallow barn swallows barnacle (current term) barnacle goose barnacled barnaclelike barnacles barnacling

barnase barnboard barnboards barnburner barnburners barndoor barndoor skate barndoor skates barned

Literary usage of Barnacle

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Diversions of a Naturalist by Edwin Ray Lankester (1915)
"CHAPTER XIV THE HISTORY OF THE barnacle AND THE GOOSE rI ^HE curious belief, widely spread in former ages— J. that the creatures (described in the last ..."

2. Chapters on Evolution by Andrew Wilson (1883)
"barnacle-growth therefore exhibits as its stages, firstly, a free-swimming larva or " Nauplius " (Fig. 119), with its three pairs of legs or appendages ..."

3. The Auk: Quarterly Journal of Ornithology by American Ornithologists' Union, Nuttall Ornithological Club (1876)
"THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE barnacle GOOSE. BY FCR JOURDAIN, MA, ... the season of 1921, all that was definitely known of the breeding of the barnacle Goose, ..."

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