BARNACLE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Barnacle

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/bˈɑrnəkəl/ Listen

noun

Barnacle n. (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.

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.

Barnacle n. A bernicle goose.

Barnacle n.

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."

pl. Spectacles; so called from their resemblance to the barnacles used by farriers. (Cant, Eng.)

Bernicle n. (Written also barnacle) A bernicle goose.

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.

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Etymology of 'Barnacle'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Barnacle" Quotes from Famous Books

... described by the fortune- teller. The schooner was anchored to the lee of a reef, while the captain, Paul and two of the crew embarked in the yawl on a tour of investigation. They pulled close under the cliff and into an inlet between two great jaws of barnacle-covered rock that towered high above them. Paul was astonished to see the exact reproduction of the word picture painted by the black fortune-feller of Jamaica before his eyes. They rowed through the inlet on ...

— The Story of Paul Boyton - Voyages on All the Great Rivers of the World • Paul Boyton

... of liver dressed with rice and herbs in the manner of the Turk, for liver, though contained in flesh, was not reckoned as flesh by liberal churchmen. There was a roast goose from the shore marshes, that barnacle bird which pious epicures classed as shell-fish and thought fit for fast days. A silver basket held a store of thin toasted rye-cakes, and by the monk's hand stood a flagon of that drink most dear to holy palates, ...

— The Path of the King • John Buchan

... little spangled toys from the children's crackers were still hanging from clothes-lines across the kitchen. We piled wood on the fire; it had barnacle shells on it; with the wreckage of good ships we warmed ourselves. Mam Widger laid the supper. The steam from the kettles puffed merrily into the room. Herrings were cooking in the oven. A faint odour—they were being stewed in vinegar—stole out ...

— A Poor Man's House • Stephen Sydney Reynolds

... curious custom that prevailed of blowing horns and pounding tin pans to keep the bees from going away when swarming. The custom is an Old Country one, I fancy. The reader will remember that Dickens, in "Little Dorrit," makes Ferdinand Barnacle say: "You really have no idea how the human bees will swarm to the beating ...

— Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago • Canniff Haight

... guessin' some at that; for she wa'n't dead sure whether he was a real native or not until the boss of the island shows up. He's a hump shouldered, leather faced, bushy browed old barnacle, with a Down East dialect that it was a dream to listen to, and it was only when Mildred heard Hermes call him Uncle Jerry that she could believe the two was any relation. Uncle Jerry didn't interfere, though He let 'em ...

— Torchy • Sewell Ford

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