limpet Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun mollusk with a low conical shell
  2. noun any of various usually marine gastropods with low conical shells; found clinging to rocks in littoral areas

WordNet

Lim"pet noun
Etymology
Prob. through French fr. L. lepas, -adis, Gr. , .
Definitions
(Zoöl.)
  1. In a general sense, any hatshaped, or conical, gastropod shell.
  2. Any one of many species of marine shellfish of the order Docoglossa, mostly found adhering to rocks, between tides. ✍ The common European limpets of the genus Patella (esp. P. vulgata) are extensively used as food. The common New England species is Acmæa testudinalis. Numerous species of limpets occur on the Pacific coast of America, some of them of large size.
  3. Any species of Siphonaria, a genus of limpet-shaped Pulmonifera, living between tides, on rocks.
  4. A keyhole limpet. See Fissurella.

Webster 1913