Barnacle

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Barnacle \Bar"na*cle\, n. [See {Bernicle}.]
     A bernicle goose.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Barnacle \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.]
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 The barnacles . . . give pain almost equal to
                 that of the switch.                --Youatt.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. pl. Spectacles; -- so called from their resemblance to the
        barnacles used by farriers. [Cant, Eng.] --Dickens.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Barnacle \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. pe`rna ham. Cf. F.
     bernacle, barnacle, E. barnacle a goose; and Ir. bairneach,
     barneach, limpet.] (Zool.)
     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}.
         [1913 Webster]
  
     {Barnacle eater} (Zool.), the orange filefish.
  
     {Barnacle scale} (Zool.), a bark louse ({Ceroplastes
        cirripediformis}) of the orange and quince trees in
        Florida. The female scale curiously resembles a sessile
        barnacle in form.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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}.]
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Bernicle goose} (Zool.), a goose ({Branta leucopsis}), of
        Arctic Europe and America. 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}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  barnacle
       n 1: 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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  34 Moby Thesaurus words for "barnacle":
     adherent, adhesive, beat, bloodsucker, bramble, brier, bulldog,
     burr, cement, deadbeat, decal, decalcomania, freeloader, glue,
     gunk, hanger-on, leech, limpet, lounge lizard, molasses, mucilage,
     parasite, paste, plaster, prickle, remora, smell-feast, spiv,
     sponge, sponger, sticker, sucker, syrup, thorn