barnacle

noun

bar·na·cle | \ ˈbär-ni-kəl

Definition of barnacle

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

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The experience of a simple meal of oysters, clams, scallops and gooseneck barnacles comes very close to sampling the sea in its purest form. — Tom Downey, WSJ, "A Spanish Food and Wine Region Comes Alive Again," 6 Dec. 2018 There are huddles of the Spanish delicacy percebes (goose barnacles); clusters of indigo mussels clinging to black metamorphic nobs. — Tamar Adler, Vogue, "Is Seaweed the Perfect Food?," 15 Feb. 2019 Parasitoids are known for manipulating the behavior of their hosts to gain an evolutionary advantage (think tapeworms, fleas and ticks, barnacles, Chinese liver flukes). — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "A Brazilian Wasp Exhibits Mind Control Over Unsuspecting Spiders," 30 Nov. 2018 On Silicon Valley Zach Woods plays a gentle, vest-wearing startup barnacle named Jared, whose dark past emerges in improvised quips. — Lauren Larson, GQ, "Zach Woods in the Woods," 31 May 2018 Nearly all the drug candidates have targeted one of the key hallmarks of Alzheimer’s: amyloid plaques, the barnacle-like proteins long considered the main culprits behind the disease. — Linda Marsa, Discover Magazine, "A New Treatment for Alzheimer's? It Starts With Lifestyle," 16 Nov. 2018 Photo: Charles Krebs An acorn barnacle, magnified five times, is seen in a photo taken by Charles Krebs. — Daniela Hernandez, WSJ, "From Tears to Spider Embryos: Photos Reveal World’s Microscopic Wonders," 12 Oct. 2018 But the Declaration of Independence invites speculation, accruing apocryphal stories like a ship attracts barnacles. — Stephan Salisbury, Philly.com, "Rare version of the Declaration of Independence on display at the Museum of the American Revolution just in time for July 4th," 26 June 2018 While Galicia is famed for its seafoods, the menus focus mainly on octopus, various types of shellfish and their coveted delicacy, barnacles. — Doug Hansen, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Hiking Spain's wild coast," 12 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'barnacle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.