Barnacle
noun
A small sea creature that has a shell and attaches itself to underwater surfaces.
Barnacles attach themselves to the hulls of ships.

Often appears as...
- goose barnacle
- acorn barnacle
noun
Someone who is very determined and keeps holding on when they should let go.
He's been a barnacle on the project, refusing to move on.

Often appears as...
- prove to be a barnacle
- barnacle on someone’s back
Usage tips
Disapproving
noun
A small sea creature that has a shell and attaches itself to underwater surfaces.
Barnacles attach themselves to the hulls of ships.

Often appears as...
- goose barnacle
- acorn barnacle
noun
Someone who is very determined and keeps holding on when they should let go.
He's been a barnacle on the project, refusing to move on.

Often appears as...
- prove to be a barnacle
- barnacle on someone’s back
Usage tips
Disapproving
Definition 1 of 2

Marine Life
Barnacles are crustaceans related to crabs and lobsters and are not plants or rocks.

While snorkeling, we observed barnacles on the pier's pillars.
Permanent Attachment
Once attached, barnacles remain fixed in that spot for life, symbolizing permanence or stubbornness.

Barnacles can cement themselves to nearly any surface underwater.
Ship Maintenance
Barnacles on ships can cause drag; removing them is part of regular ship upkeep.

The shipyard workers scraped barnacles off the hull as part of the maintenance.
Marine Life
Barnacles are crustaceans related to crabs and lobsters and are not plants or rocks.

While snorkeling, we observed barnacles on the pier's pillars.
Permanent Attachment
Once attached, barnacles remain fixed in that spot for life, symbolizing permanence or stubbornness.

Barnacles can cement themselves to nearly any surface underwater.
Ship Maintenance
Barnacles on ships can cause drag; removing them is part of regular ship upkeep.

The shipyard workers scraped barnacles off the hull as part of the maintenance.
Marine Life
Barnacles are crustaceans related to crabs and lobsters and are not plants or rocks.

While snorkeling, we observed barnacles on the pier's pillars.
Permanent Attachment
Once attached, barnacles remain fixed in that spot for life, symbolizing permanence or stubbornness.

Barnacles can cement themselves to nearly any surface underwater.
Ship Maintenance
Barnacles on ships can cause drag; removing them is part of regular ship upkeep.

The shipyard workers scraped barnacles off the hull as part of the maintenance.
Video examples
Finding Baby Seals on an...
What it would do is it would drill a hole. It would bore a little hole into the shells of those barnacles and mussels. It will inject this enzyme deep into the the body, Which will sort of digest it for it and turn it into a liquid soup. And then it has this tube structure thing called a proboscis, which it uses to suck out all that
Video examples
What sticky sea...
And then, if you think about what happens when a storm comes in, if the storm surge first has to hit miles of these reefs, the coast behind it is going to be protected. So they're really quite influential. If you've been to any rocky beach pretty much anywhere in the world, you're probably familiar with what barnacles look like.
Video examples
Beyond the edge of the...
their sales and barnacles crabs or the whole bacteria from the bacteria all the way up to the pup consumers so knowledge minerals and the other mining industries come to the science scientists and say well how do we think about this how do we do the environmental management many kinds of systems and we've been helping
Video examples
A Quest to Find Canada’s...
diet comes from the ocean they fish barnacles mussels clams even washed-up whales they live this incredible existence and this particular day will stay with me forever because it was the first time I'd ever got close to a coastal wolf up to this point every time I tried to sneak up on them or get close
Video examples
Biomimicry in action PIPE...
We're not the first ones to have to protect ourselves from some bacteria. Turns out that -- this is a Galapagos Shark. It has no bacteria on its surface, no fouling on its surface, no barnacles. And it's not because it goes fast. It actually basks. It's a slow-moving shark.
Video examples
Filming Antarctica's...
and and it mentioned these things called barnacles and i was like really fascinated it said there were those ice formations that grew down from the the eyes from the surface ice uh remarkably quickly but no one had really seen the growth of them and i thought my god
Video examples
Ghostly Yeti Crab Swarms...
covered Rock was nicknamed the carwash barnacle by researchers because it looked like the spinning cylinders found in a car wash they even spotted a colorless octopus one of the rarest finds on the team's expedition it's about two feet long and was filmed
Video examples
The sharks that hunt in...
fish lay eggs amidst their sprawling, complex root systems. Symbiotic sponges and sea squirts protect their host trees from hungry woodboring crustaceans. Crabs, snails, and shrimp eat algae, mussels, barnacles,
Video examples
Parasites Hitch a Ride...
are in fact parasitic while others are commensal posing no threat to the turtle crabs barnacles shrimp oysters algae and other life-forms have all been seen on the Turtles
Video examples
There’s Still Oil on...
so this rock is teeming with life you have kelp crab you have barnacles snail you have muscles you have barnacles on those
Video examples
Finding Baby Seals on an...
What it would do is it would drill a hole. It would bore a little hole into the shells of those barnacles and mussels. It will inject this enzyme deep into the the body, Which will sort of digest it for it and turn it into a liquid soup. And then it has this tube structure thing called a proboscis, which it uses to suck out all that
Video examples
What sticky sea...
And then, if you think about what happens when a storm comes in, if the storm surge first has to hit miles of these reefs, the coast behind it is going to be protected. So they're really quite influential. If you've been to any rocky beach pretty much anywhere in the world, you're probably familiar with what barnacles look like.
Video examples
Beyond the edge of the...
their sales and barnacles crabs or the whole bacteria from the bacteria all the way up to the pup consumers so knowledge minerals and the other mining industries come to the science scientists and say well how do we think about this how do we do the environmental management many kinds of systems and we've been helping
Video examples
A Quest to Find Canada’s...
diet comes from the ocean they fish barnacles mussels clams even washed-up whales they live this incredible existence and this particular day will stay with me forever because it was the first time I'd ever got close to a coastal wolf up to this point every time I tried to sneak up on them or get close
Video examples
Biomimicry in action PIPE...
We're not the first ones to have to protect ourselves from some bacteria. Turns out that -- this is a Galapagos Shark. It has no bacteria on its surface, no fouling on its surface, no barnacles. And it's not because it goes fast. It actually basks. It's a slow-moving shark.
Video examples
Filming Antarctica's...
and and it mentioned these things called barnacles and i was like really fascinated it said there were those ice formations that grew down from the the eyes from the surface ice uh remarkably quickly but no one had really seen the growth of them and i thought my god
Video examples
Ghostly Yeti Crab Swarms...
covered Rock was nicknamed the carwash barnacle by researchers because it looked like the spinning cylinders found in a car wash they even spotted a colorless octopus one of the rarest finds on the team's expedition it's about two feet long and was filmed
Video examples
The sharks that hunt in...
fish lay eggs amidst their sprawling, complex root systems. Symbiotic sponges and sea squirts protect their host trees from hungry woodboring crustaceans. Crabs, snails, and shrimp eat algae, mussels, barnacles,
Video examples
Parasites Hitch a Ride...
are in fact parasitic while others are commensal posing no threat to the turtle crabs barnacles shrimp oysters algae and other life-forms have all been seen on the Turtles
Video examples
There’s Still Oil on...
so this rock is teeming with life you have kelp crab you have barnacles snail you have muscles you have barnacles on those
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Steven Gundry
American Author
Lectins are like little barnacles that look for specific sugar molecules in our blood, the lining of our gut, and on our nerves. When they find a good spot to land, they cling to those cells, breaking down their ability to communicate with our immune systems.

Quote examples
William Banting
English Celebrity
Yet the evil still increased, and, like the parasite of barnacles on a ship, if it did not destroy the structure, it obstructed its fair, comfortable progress in the path of life.

Quote examples
Geoff Johns
American Writer
Any character can find an audience and work if you have passion for that character. You might have to just scrape off the dirt and the barnacles and pull it out and highlight it.

Quote examples
John Darnielle
American Musician
Sometimes I feel very young, and other times I feel like the side of a ship that's got a bunch of layers of mussels and barnacles on it.

Quote examples
William Collins
English Poet
Words like feminism or democracy scare me. They are words with barnacles on them, and you can't see what's underneath.

Quote examples
Stephen Hunter
American Novelist
The squiggly rubber Davy Jones face in 'Pirates' with the tentacles, barnacles and goobers - that's modeled on me.

Quote examples
Richard Owen
English Scientist
No naturalist has devoted more painstaking attention to the structure of the barnacles than Mr. Darwin.

Quote examples
David Burtka
American Actor
I don't love being thought of as Neil's barnacle. It's a strange shadow to follow.

Quote examples
Michael Leunig
Australian Cartoonist
It's terrible the way words get attached to you like barnacles.

Quote examples
Steven Gundry
American Author
Lectins are like little barnacles that look for specific sugar molecules in our blood, the lining of our gut, and on our nerves. When they find a good spot to land, they cling to those cells, breaking down their ability to communicate with our immune systems.

Quote examples
William Banting
English Celebrity
Yet the evil still increased, and, like the parasite of barnacles on a ship, if it did not destroy the structure, it obstructed its fair, comfortable progress in the path of life.

Quote examples
Geoff Johns
American Writer
Any character can find an audience and work if you have passion for that character. You might have to just scrape off the dirt and the barnacles and pull it out and highlight it.

Quote examples
John Darnielle
American Musician
Sometimes I feel very young, and other times I feel like the side of a ship that's got a bunch of layers of mussels and barnacles on it.

Quote examples
William Collins
English Poet
Words like feminism or democracy scare me. They are words with barnacles on them, and you can't see what's underneath.

Quote examples
Stephen Hunter
American Novelist
The squiggly rubber Davy Jones face in 'Pirates' with the tentacles, barnacles and goobers - that's modeled on me.

Quote examples
Richard Owen
English Scientist
No naturalist has devoted more painstaking attention to the structure of the barnacles than Mr. Darwin.

Quote examples
David Burtka
American Actor
I don't love being thought of as Neil's barnacle. It's a strange shadow to follow.

Quote examples
Michael Leunig
Australian Cartoonist
It's terrible the way words get attached to you like barnacles.

Example 1 of 9
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension