barnacles Hear it!

barnacles definition

bar·na·cles (-kəlz)

plural noun

  1. nose pincers for controlling an unruly horse
  2. an instrument of torture like such pincers

Etymology: ME & OFr bernac, kind of bit

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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