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
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
Related article Stunning photographs capture starlings migrating through Europe
Ryan Stalker, who took the winning image, explains that the goose barnacles attached to the football are not a native to the UK but sometimes wash up on its shores during Atlantic storms.
—Nell Lewis, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024
Anemones, sea stars, urchins, barnacles, periwinkles and other marine creatures inhabit the park’s tide pools — some of the best in Southern California.
—Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2024
The barnacles were fed fresh brine shrimp for three weeks to monitor their growth.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 24 Aug. 2023
Things like sea barnacles steamed over sea lettuce.
—Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Nov. 2023
There may be several explanations; like barnacles on a ship, negatives tend to accumulate the longer a politician stays in office.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2023
On another, foraged blooms sprouted from bronze-colored barnacles, some of them embedded with tiny light bulbs.
—Martha Cheng Sharon Radisch, New York Times, 7 Nov. 2023
From colorful giant clams to barnacles, there’s no shortage of creatures that have taken inspiration from plants and simply stopped moving.
—Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 15 Jan. 2024
Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
Related article Stunning photographs capture starlings migrating through Europe
Ryan Stalker, who took the winning image, explains that the goose barnacles attached to the football are not a native to the UK but sometimes wash up on its shores during Atlantic storms.
—Nell Lewis, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024
Anemones, sea stars, urchins, barnacles, periwinkles and other marine creatures inhabit the park’s tide pools — some of the best in Southern California.
—Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2024
The barnacles were fed fresh brine shrimp for three weeks to monitor their growth.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 24 Aug. 2023
Things like sea barnacles steamed over sea lettuce.
—Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Nov. 2023
There may be several explanations; like barnacles on a ship, negatives tend to accumulate the longer a politician stays in office.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2023
On another, foraged blooms sprouted from bronze-colored barnacles, some of them embedded with tiny light bulbs.
—Martha Cheng Sharon Radisch, New York Times, 7 Nov. 2023
From colorful giant clams to barnacles, there’s no shortage of creatures that have taken inspiration from plants and simply stopped moving.
—Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 15 Jan. 2024
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.
Dictionary Entries Near barnacle
Cite this Entry
“Barnacle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barnacle. Accessed 19 Apr. 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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