Definition of "barnacle" [bar•na•cle]

• Any of various marine crustaceans of the subclass Cirripedia that in the adult stage form a hard shell and remain attached to submerged surfaces, such as rocks and ships' bottoms. (noun)
• The barnacle goose. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A barnacle is a ship, and a splinter is a “bandwagon.”"
• "Fastened to the first IMPs like a barnacle was a small phonelike box, with a cord and headset."
• "MAX MUELLER38 has suggested that this word was really derived from Hibernicula, the name thus referring to Ireland, where the birds were caught; but common opinion associated the barnacle goose with the shell-fish known as the barnacle (which is found on timber exposed to the sea), supposing that the former was generated out of the latter."