Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of numerous marine gastropod mollusks that have a conical shell and often adhere to rocks in intertidal areas, especially those of the order Patellogastropoda.
- noun One that clings persistently.
- noun A type of explosive designed to cling to the hull of a ship and detonate on contact or signal.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A marine docoglossate gastropod with an open conical shell imperforate at the apex.
- noun Some mollusk resembling the foregoing, at least in shape of the shell.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) In a general sense, any hatshaped, or conical, gastropod shell.
- noun Any one of many species of marine shellfish of the order Docoglossa, mostly found adhering to rocks, between tides.
- noun Somthing or someone that clings tenaciously to another object or person
- noun Any species of Siphonaria, a genus of limpet-shaped Pulmonifera, living between tides, on rocks.
- noun A keyhole limpet. See
Fissurella .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A small
mollusc , of the family Patellidae with a conical shell found clinging to rocks in theintertidal zones of rocky shores. - noun UK Someone
dependant ; someone disregarding or ignorant of another'spersonal space .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun mollusk with a low conical shell
- noun any of various usually marine gastropods with low conical shells; found clinging to rocks in littoral areas
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Neal laughed, but he felt that to use Una's hair as a wrap for the red pulp of a crab's back or the soft, black belly of a limpet was a kind of profanation.
The Northern Iron George A. Birmingham 1907
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For instance, a small snail called a limpet that fed on organisms that grew on the grass went extinct.
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For instance, a small snail called a limpet that fed on organisms that grew on the grass went extinct.
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"Imagine the limpet is the antelope of the undersea Serengeti, grazing majestically on algae," he intones, bouncing the shell along.
Thestar.com - Home Page Amy Laughinghouse 2010
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He said the landmines would have had to be detonated by smaller adhesive "limpet" mines, triggered by a timing device.
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This dwelling is in shape and appearance like the back shell of a tortoise, or, still more, like a "limpet," being attached to the stem of the tree in the same manner that the latter adheres to a rock.
Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon Samuel White Baker 1857
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The former is headed by someone called Graham Dalton, who, it seems, is a time-serving apparatchik from the DoT, which, as we all know, is headed by that limpet-like nincompoop, Geoff BuffHoon, one of new Labour's 'Jack of All Trades & Master of None'.
Another Fine Mess 2009
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The shelves in the Alexander living room are lined with conch and limpet shells, polished stones and cobalt blue glass.
Blood and ink relations: National Book Festival's Adele and Elizabeth Alexander Lonnae O'Neal Parker 2010
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In February 1965, I went to New Zealand to study two kinds of bioluminescent organisms: the cave worm Arachnocampa and the freshwater limpet Latia.
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The former is headed by someone called Graham Dalton, who, it seems, is a time-serving apparatchik from the DoT, which, as we all know, is headed by that limpet-like nincompoop, Geoff BuffHoon, one of new Labour's 'Jack of All Trades & Master of None'.
Archive 2009-02-01 2009
brtom commented on the word limpet
"Better not stick here all night like a limpet. This weather makes you dull."
Joyce, Ulysses, 13
January 14, 2007
mollusque commented on the word limpet
In a thousand books yet to be written, the word 'impeachment' will cling to the name 'Clinton' like a limpet.
--New York Times, 13 Feb 1999
November 8, 2007
seanahan commented on the word limpet
It's funny, because 8 years on, nobody every mentions it, and I can't remember the last time I thought about it.
November 8, 2007
sionnach commented on the word limpet
A clingy enzyme sometimes used in cheesemaking to make the final product less stiff. Also can be used as an antidote in cases of inadvertent Viagra overdosing; though it resolves the immediate stiffness crisis, side-effects of excessive clinginess have been noted in certain subjects.
January 20, 2009
stuartmathergibson commented on the word limpet
limpet
omthing or someone that clings tenaciously to another object or person
June 2, 2022