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Webster 1913 Edition

Barnacle

Bar′na-cle

,
Noun.
[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.
πέρνα
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
.
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.

Bar′na-cle

,
Noun.
[See
Bernicle
.]
A bernicle goose.

Bar′na-cle

,
Noun.
[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.
[Formerly used in the
s
ing.
]
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Barnacle

B'ARNACLE

,
Noun.
[L.perna, a shell-fish.]
1.
A shell which is often found on the bottoms of ships, rocks and timber, below the surface of the sea.
2.
A species of goose, found in the northern seas, but visiting more southern climates in winter. The forehead and cheeks are white, but the upper part of the body and neck is black. Formerly, a strange notion prevailed, that these birds grew out of wood, or rather out of the barnacles attached to wood in the sea. Hence the name. It is written also Bernacle.
3.
In the plural, an instrument consisting of two branches jointed at one end with a hinge, to put upon a horse's nose, to confine him, for shoeing, bleeding, or dressing.

Definition 2024

barnacle

barnacle

English

Noun

barnacle ‎(plural barnacles)

  1. A marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia that attaches itself to submerged surfaces such as tidal rocks or the bottoms of ships.
  2. The barnacle goose.
  3. (engineering, slang) In electrical engineering, a change made to a product on the manufacturing floor that was not part of the original product design.
  4. (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.
  5. (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.
  6. (archaic, Britain) A nickname for spectacles.
  7. (slang, obsolete) A good job, or snack easily obtained.

Translations

Related terms

Verb

barnacle ‎(third-person singular simple present barnacles, present participle barnacling, simple past and past participle barnacled)

  1. To connect with or attach.
    • 2009, Liza Dalby, Hidden Buddhas: A Novel of Karma and Chaos, Stone Bridge Press (2009), ISBN 9781933330853, page 178:
      Tokuda went over everything his grandfather had taught him, including the commentary that had barnacled on to the core knowledge.
  2. To press close against something.
    • 2002, Douglas Coupland, All Families Are Psychotic, Vintage Canada (2002), ISBN 0679311831, page 16:
      He turned a corner to where he supposed the cupboard might be, to find Howie and Alanna barnacled together in an embrace.

See also

References

  • barnacle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • 1811 Dictionary of Vulgar Tongue, available from Project Gutenberg

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English barnakille, from earlier bernake, bernekke, from Old Northern French bernaque ‎(“barnacle”) (compare French barnache), from Vulgar Latin *bernacca ‎(“limpet”), from Gaulish (compare Welsh brennig, Irish báirneac), from Proto-Celtic *barinākos, from *barinā ‎(“rock, rocky ground”) (compare Old Irish barenn ‎(“boulder”)), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷr̥H- ‎(“hill, mountain”) + Proto-Celtic *-ākos, from Proto-Indo-European *-kos, *-ḱos; for sense development, compare Ancient Greek λέπας ‎(lépas, “rock”) which gave λεπάς ‎(lepás, “limpet”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbɑː(ɹ)nəkəɫ/

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