barnacle

plural barnacles

1. A marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia that attaches itself to submerged surfaces such as tidal rocks or the bottoms of ships.
2. The barnacle goose.
3. slangengineeringIn electrical engineering, a change made to a product on the manufacturing floor that was not part of the original product design.
4. slangbusinessOn printed circuit boards, a change such as soldering a wire in order to connect two points, or addition such as an added resistor or capacitor, subassembly or daughterboard.
5. slangcomputingA deprecated or obsolete file, image or other artifact that remains with a project even though it is no longer needed.

   Synonyms: cruft

6. in pluralobsoleteAn instrument like a pair of pincers, to fix on the nose of a vicious horse while shoeing so as to make it more tractable.

   Synonyms: twitch

7. UKarchaicin pluralslangA pair of spectacles.
8. obsoleteslangA good job, or snack easily obtained.
9. slangA worldly sailor.

   Synonyms: shellback

present singular third person barnacles · participle present barnacling · participle past barnacled · past barnacled

1. To connect with or attach.

   To dream that some things just barnacle to your heart, and it might take years, or it might always just be there.

   2020, “YTK, Lunar Cartographer”, in Timmy's Unbuttoned Gen X Meditations, performed by Good Fuck

   1 more example

   Tokuda went over everything his grandfather had taught him, including the commentary that had barnacled on to the core knowledge.

   2009, Liza Dalby, Hidden Buddhas: A Novel of Karma and Chaos, Stone Bridge Press, published 2009, →ISBN, page 178

2. To press close against something.

   He turned a corner to where he supposed the cupboard might be, to find Howie and Alanna barnacled together in an embrace.

   2002, Douglas Coupland, All Families Are Psychotic, Vintage Canada, published 2002, →ISBN, page 16

1. A village in Shilton and Barnacle parish, Rugby borough, Warwickshire, England (OS grid ref SP3884).
2. A surname.