Definitions for: Barnacle

[n] European goose smaller than the brant; breeds in the far north
[n] marine crustaceans with feathery food-catching appendages; free-swimming as larvae; as adults form a hard shell and live attached to submerged surfaces

Webster (1913) Definition: Bar"na*cle, n. [Prob. from E. barnacle a kind of
goose, which was popularly supposed to grow from this
shellfish; but perh. from LL. bernacula for pernacula, dim.
of perna ham, sea mussel; cf. Gr. ? ham Cf. F. bernacle,
barnacle, E. barnacle a goose; and Ir. bairneach, barneach,
limpet.] (Zo["o]l.)
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.

Barnacle eater (Zo["o]l.), the orange filefish.

Barnacle scale (Zo["o]l.), a bark louse ({Ceroplastes
cirripediformis}) of the orange and quince trees in
Florida. The female scale curiously resembles a sessile
barnacle in form.

Bar"na*cle, n. [See Bernicle.]
A bernicle goose.

Bar"na*cle, n. [OE. bernak, bernacle; cf. OF. bernac,
and Prov. F. (Berri) berniques, spectacles.]
1. pl. (Far.) An instrument for pinching a horse's nose, and
thus restraining him.

Note: [Formerly used in the sing.]

The barnacles . . . give pain almost equal to
that of the switch. --Youatt.

2. pl. Spectacles; -- so called from their resemblance to the
barnacles used by farriers. [Cant, Eng.] --Dickens.

Synonyms: barnacle goose, Branta leucopsis, cerriped, cerripede

See Also: acorn barnacle, Balanus balanoides, Branta, Cirripedia, crustacean, genus Branta, goose, goose barnacle, Lepas fascicularis, rock barnacle, subclass Cirripedia

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