barnacle

noun

bar·​na·​cle ˈbär-ni-kəl 

1

: barnacle goose

2

[from a popular belief that the goose grew from the crustacean] : any of numerous marine crustaceans (subclass Cirripedia) with feathery appendages for gathering food that are free-swimming as larvae but permanently fixed (as to rocks, boat hulls, or whales) as adults

barnacled

ˈbär-ni-kəld 

adjective

Illustration of barnacle

• 1 peduncle
• 2 cirri

Examples of barnacle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This was something Flora thought about often—the necklace wearing the woman, like the necklace was a symbiotic creature, a barnacle upon a whale, a relatively insignificant thing that attached itself to something greater. —Sheila Heti, The New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2025

However, predators like sea stars and snails have evolved olfactory receptors specifically tuned to detect these compounds, turning the barnacles’ defensive mechanism into a homing beacon. —Melissa Cristina Marquez, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025

And this dynamic chemical interplay is not unique to barnacles! —Melissa Cristina Marquez, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025

Over time, new buildings kept attaching to others like barnacles, so façades had second careers as interior walls, windows turned into hallways, and passageways became bathrooms. —Justin Davidson, Curbed, 10 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English barnakille, alteration of bernake, bernekke

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing barnacle

• barnacle goose

Kids Definition

barnacle

noun

bar·​na·​cle ˈbär-ni-kəl 

: any of numerous small saltwater crustaceans with feathery outgrowths for gathering food that are free-swimming as larvae but as adults are permanently fastened (as to rocks or the bottoms of ships)

barnacled

-kəld 

adjective