From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbarnaclebar‧na‧cle /ˈbɑːnəkəl $ ˈbɑːr-/ noun [countable] HBATTWa small sea animal with a hard shell that sticks firmly to rocks and the bottom of boats
Examples from the Corpus
barnacle• Keep an eye open and you may spot a barnacle goose or a Bewick's swan.• The sea had worn little ruts in the wood and barnacles were clinging to it everywhere.• Evolutionary Morphology Darwin himself had done extensive morphological work in a detailed study of barnacles during the 1850s.• This will be difficult to carry out on barnacles, but comparatively easy for mussels, limpets or other snails.• The block of leafy branches, roots, mud, and piggybacking barnacles was boxed and hauled ashore.• This is the trade-off necessary to get permission to scrape off the barnacles.• The ends of the boards were crusted with barnacles.Origin barnacle (1500-1600) barnacle type of goose ((12-21 centuries)), from Medieval Latin bernaca; from the former belief that the goose was born from a barnacle 