barnacle

/'bɑ:nəkl/

Thân thiện

A barnacle clings to the side of a weathered wooden pier piling.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A type of marine crustacean: A small sea creature that permanently attaches itself to hard surfaces like rocks, ship hulls, or even whales. As an adult, it lives inside a hard, calcareous shell.
   • A type of goose: A European wild goose (Branta leucopsis) that is smaller than a brant.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Marine Animal):
  • The bottom of the boat was covered in barnacles.
  • Barnacles are filter feeders that catch food with their feathery legs.
• Noun (Goose):
  • A flock of barnacles was seen migrating along the coast.

Advanced Usage

• "Barnacle" as a metaphor: Used to describe a person who clings persistently or annoyingly to someone or something.
  • He was a barnacle on the company, refusing to retire and blocking younger talent.

Variants and Related Words

• Barnacled (adj): Covered with barnacles.
  • The barnacled hull of the old ship.
• Acorn barnacle (n): A common type of barnacle with a shell shaped like an acorn.
• Goose barnacle (n): A type of barnacle with a long, fleshy stalk, historically thought to be related to geese.

Synonyms

• Crustacean (for the marine animal).
• Goose (for the bird).

Related Phrases

• To cling like a barnacle: To stick to someone or something very tenaciously.
  • The paparazzi clung to the celebrity like barnacles.

Học thuật

Noun

1. European goose smaller than the brant; breeds in the far north
2. marine crustaceans with feathery food-catching appendages; free-swimming as larvae; as adults form a hard shell and live attached to submerged surfaces

Từ đồng nghĩa

• barnacle goose
• Branta leucopsis
• cirriped
• cirripede