limpet
Definitions
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The Limpet -
WordNet 3.6
- n limpet any of various usually marine gastropods with low conical shells; found clinging to rocks in littoral areas
- n limpet mollusk with a low conical shell
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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- Limpet A keyhole limpet. See Fissurella.
- Limpet Any one of many species of marine shellfish of the order Docoglossa, mostly found adhering to rocks, between tides.
- Limpet Any species of Siphonaria, a genus of limpet-shaped Pulmonifera, living between tides, on rocks.
- Limpet In a general sense, any hatshaped, or conical, gastropod shell.
- Limpet Somthing or someone that clings tenaciously to another object or person;
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
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- n limpet A marine docoglossate gastropod with an open conical shell imperforate at the apex. The species mostly belong to the families Patellidæ and Acmæidæ; the best-known is Patella vulgata, the common limpet of northern Europe. This inhabits rocky coasts, and selects a site on intertidal rocks, which it uses as a resting-place and wears down into a cavity, making short excursions in search of food, which consists chiefly of algæ. Limpets are noted for sticking closely to rocks by means of their adhesive foot, which acts as a sucker, bringing considerable atmospheric pressure to bear upon their shells, which latter, moreover, fit tightly in consequence of the evenly rounded aperture. Large numbers are collected for fish-bait, and they are also used as food by the poor. See bonnet-limpet, keyhole-limpet, slipper-limpet.
- n limpet Some mollusk resembling the foregoing, at least in shape of the shell.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
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- n Limpet lim′pet a small shellfish which clings to intertidal rocks.
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Etymology
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Prob. through French fr. L. lepas, -adis, Gr. lepa`s -a`dos
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
A.S. lempedu, lamprede, lamprey.
Usage
In literature:
John swore and struggled, but the old man stuck like a limpet.
"Robert Elsmere" by Mrs. Humphry Ward
Why he've sold hisself to tho'ull Sir Nick, who do stick to un like a limpet to a rock.
"Roger Trewinion" by Joseph Hocking
She fixed herself as firmly on this shelter as a limpet takes hold upon a rock.
"The Dark Tower" by Phyllis Bottome
I am the limpet on the rock.
"The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III, Complete" by John Forster
I am the limpet on the rock.
"The Letters of Charles Dickens" by Charles Dickens
The Manx or Gaelic term for a limpet.
"The Sailor's Word-Book" by William Henry Smyth
East Cape consists of a few walrus-hide huts which cling like limpets to the face of a cliff overhanging the Straits.
"From Paris to New York by Land" by Harry de Windt
I sat beside her and annoyed a limpet.
"Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 147, August 12, 1914" by Various
None could climb like he, and he clung as firmly to the edges of the rocks as a limpet.
"Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen" by Hans Christian Andersen
A limpet on a rock is nothing to this baby.
"Lotus Buds" by Amy Carmichael
Doggedly, limpet-like, Phil kept closely to him.
"The Spoilers of the Valley" by Robert Watson
The brainy dwellers of Hibernia know this, and stick like limpets to England.
"Ireland as It Is" by Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
Like a limpet to a rock do they cling to this wretched, sinful world.
"Flowers of Freethought" by George W. Foote
A singular, insidious thing, shrinking and biting like a weasel; clutching by its roots as a limpet clutches to a rock.
"The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25)" by Robert Louis Stevenson
She appeared to be covered with limpets, and mould and moss clung to her as to a rock.
"Legends & Romances of Brittany" by Lewis Spence
They were timid as sheep and ignorant as limpets; that was all.
"The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 16 (of 25)" by Robert Louis Stevenson
We're like the limpets of the rock.
"The Squire's Daughter" by Archibald Marshall
The imported limpets on this Swiss rock of gentility were not sure of their own grip.
"The Silent Barrier" by Louis Tracy
A sailor escaped from shipwreck had found a refuge there; had lived some time upon rock limpets, and had died.
"Toilers of the Sea" by Victor Hugo
In some of the shell-fish, such as the limpets on the rocks, gods were supposed to be present.
"The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead" by James George Frazer
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In news:
Kind of like the way the limpet 's shell provides protection.
Limpet 's reputation is another thing the company has going for it, when it comes to generating business.
So Limpet 's runs are both long and short, and while most of the customers are local to the UK, there's some export business as well.
"Goes Like a Flash Grips the Road Like a Limpet .".
Blu-ray review: 'The Incredible Mr Limpet .
From gastronomy to conservation to evolutionary biology, we pry the secrets out of these little limpets.
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