barnacle

A noun referring to a marine crustacean that, as an adult, forms a hard shell and lives attached to submerged surfaces; also refers to a species of European goose that breeds in the far north.

• 🇫🇷Nom désignant un crustacé marin qui, à l'âge adulte, forme une coquille dure et vit fixé aux surfaces sous-marines ; désigne aussi une espèce de bernache, oiseau d'eau apparenté à l'oie, qui niche dans les régions nordiques.

1. Marine crustacean B2 formal scientific

   A small marine crustacean that attaches itself permanently to hard surfaces such as rocks, ship hulls, and whales, using a strong adhesive.

   • The ship's hull was covered in barnacles after months at sea.
   • Barnacles filter plankton from the water using their feathery appendages.
   • Divers had to scrape the barnacles off the pier supports.

   🇫🇷Anatifé (crustacé marin)

   Synonymes: cirripedcirripede

2. Goose species C1 formal british scientific

   A type of goose, also known as the barnacle goose, which breeds in the Arctic regions of the North Atlantic.

   • The barnacle goose migrates south for the winter.
   • Ornithologists study the nesting habits of barnacle geese in Greenland.
   • A flock of barnacle geese flew overhead in a V formation.

   🇫🇷Bernache nonnette

   Synonymes: barnacle goose

• barnacles plural form
• barnacles' possessive plural form
• barnacle's possessive singular form