Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Barnacle

//ˈbɑːnəkl̩// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A village in Shilton and Barnacle parish, Rugby borough, Warwickshire, England (OS grid ref SP3884).
  2. 2
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    A marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia that attaches itself to submerged surfaces such as tidal rocks or the bottoms of ships.
  2. 2
    European goose smaller than the brant; breeds in the far north wordnet
  3. 3
    The barnacle goose.
  4. 4
    marine crustaceans with feathery food-catching appendages; free-swimming as larvae; as adults form a hard shell and live attached to submerged surfaces wordnet
  5. 5
    In electrical engineering, a change made to a product on the manufacturing floor that was not part of the original product design. slang
Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    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. slang
  2. 7
    A deprecated or obsolete file, image or other artifact that remains with a project even though it is no longer needed. slang
  3. 8
    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. in-plural, obsolete
  4. 9
    A pair of spectacles. British, archaic, in-plural, slang
  5. 10
    A good job, or snack easily obtained. obsolete, slang
  6. 11
    A worldly sailor. slang
Verb
  1. 1
    To connect with or attach.

    "Tokuda went over everything his grandfather had taught him, including the commentary that had barnacled on to the core knowledge."

  2. 2
    To press close against something.

    "He turned a corner to where he supposed the cupboard might be, to find Howie and Alanna barnacled together in an embrace."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Uncertain, with long-debated origin. From Middle English barnakille, from earlier bernake, bernekke, most likely from Old Northern French bernaque (“barnacle”) (compare French barnache), probably from Medieval Latin barneca (“limpet”), probably from Gaulish (compare Welsh brennig, Irish bairneach), from Proto-Celtic *barannīkos, 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”). First attestations referred to the goose, with corresponding folklore (q.v.).

Etymology 2

Uncertain, with long-debated origin. From Middle English barnakille, from earlier bernake, bernekke, most likely from Old Northern French bernaque (“barnacle”) (compare French barnache), probably from Medieval Latin barneca (“limpet”), probably from Gaulish (compare Welsh brennig, Irish bairneach), from Proto-Celtic *barannīkos, 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”). First attestations referred to the goose, with corresponding folklore (q.v.).

See also for "barnacle"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: barnacle