Illustration of barnacle
- 1 peduncle
- 2 cirri
barnacle
noun
bar·na·cle
ˈbär-ni-kəl 
1
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
Examples of barnacle in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Health Barnacles inspire a blood-repelling tissue glue for sealing wounds faster
MIT researchers design glue that mimics the sticky substance barnacles use to cling to rocks.
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Big Think, 24 June 2024
León’s zero-waste tasting menus center the more curious delicacies of the sea, from goose barnacles and plankton to seawater broths and bioluminescent amuse bouches.
—Lydia Bell, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 May 2024
But for all of Darwin's brilliant insights into the origins of ants and armadillos, bats and barnacles, one species is conspicuously neglected in the great book: his own.
—Kate Wong, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2020
The island’s wide, open beaches were perfect for careening hulls, beaching ships and listing them to one side to scrape off the foul barnacles and shipworms that infest the tropical Caribbean.
—Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barnacle 
Big Think, 24 June 2024
León’s zero-waste tasting menus center the more curious delicacies of the sea, from goose barnacles and plankton to seawater broths and bioluminescent amuse bouches.
—Lydia Bell, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 May 2024
But for all of Darwin's brilliant insights into the origins of ants and armadillos, bats and barnacles, one species is conspicuously neglected in the great book: his own.
—Kate Wong, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2020
The island’s wide, open beaches were perfect for careening hulls, beaching ships and listing them to one side to scrape off the foul barnacles and shipworms that infest the tropical Caribbean.
—Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barnacle
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barnacle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Barnacle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barnacle. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids 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)
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