Hypertext Webster Gateway: "barnacle"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Barnacle \Bar"na*cle\, n. [See {Bernicle}.]
A bernicle goose.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Barnacle \Bar"na*cle\, n. [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.
Note: [Formerly used in the sing.]
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Barnacle \Bar"na*cle\, n. [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. ? ham Cf. F. bernacle,
barnacle, E. barnacle a goose; and Ir. bairneach, barneach,
limpet.] (Zo["o]l.)
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} (Zo["o]l.), the orange filefish.
{Barnacle scale} (Zo["o]l.), a bark louse ({Ceroplastes
cirripediformis}) of the orange and quince trees in
Florida. The female scale curiously resembles a sessile
barnacle in form.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bernicle \Ber"ni*cle\, n. [OE. bernak, bernacle; cf. OF. bernac;
prob. fr. LL. bernacula for hibernicula, bernicula, fr.
Hibernia; the birds coming from Hibernia or Ireland. Cf. 1st
{Barnacle}.]
A bernicle goose. [Written also {barnacle}.]
{Bernicle goose} (Zo["o]l.), 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}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
barnacle
n 1: marine crustaceans with feathery food-catching appendages;
free-swimming as larvae; as adults form a hard shell and
live attached to submerged surfaces [syn: {cerriped}, {cerripede}]
2: European goose smaller than the brant; breeds in the far
north [syn: {barnacle goose}, {Branta leucopsis}]
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