Definition of limpet Limpet

lim•pet

We found 12 definitions of limpet from 7 different sources.

What does limpet mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: limpets
limpet - any of various usually marine gastropods with low conical shells; found clinging to rocks in littoral areas
		seasnail any of several creeping marine gastropods with a spirally coiled shell: whelks; tritons; moon shells; neritids
		class gasteropoda, class gastropoda, gasteropoda, gastropoda snails and slugs and their relatives
		common limpet, patella vulgata marine limpet
limpet - mollusk with a low conical shell

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Wiktionary

limpet (Noun)
A small mollusc, of the family Patellidae with a conical shell found clinging to rocks in the intertidal zones of rocky shores.
limpet (Noun)
Someone dependant; someone disregarding or ignorant of another's personal space .

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

limpet (n.)
In a general sense, any hatshaped, or conical, gastropod shell.
limpet (n.)
Any one of many species of marine shellfish of the order Docoglossa, mostly found adhering to rocks, between tides.
limpet (n.)
Any species of Siphonaria, a genus of limpet-shaped Pulmonifera, living between tides, on rocks.
limpet (n.)
A keyhole limpet. See Fissurella.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

limpet
lim′pet, n. a small shellfish which clings to intertidal rocks. [A.S. lempedu, lamprede, lamprey.]

Sailor's Word-BookThe Sailor's Word-Book ⛵

limpet
A well-known shell-fish, giving rise to the brackish proverb, "Sticking fast like a limpet to a rock."

Wikipedia

Limpets are marine gastropod molluscs in the order Patellogastropoda. They have flattened, cone-shaped shells. They live throughout the intertidal zone, from the high zone (upper littoral) to the shallow subtidal on the rocky coasts of most oceans. Limpets can be commonly found attached to rocks, looking like little disks or bumps on the rock surface. They attach themselves to the substratum using pedal mucus and a muscular "foot", which enables them to remain attached through dangerous wave action and which also seals against the rock to protect from desiccation during low tide. Limpets forage by grazing on algae found on rock surfaces. They scrape films of algae from the rock with a radula, a ribbon-like tongue with rows of teeth. Limpets move by rippling the muscles of their foot in a wave-like motion.

Some limpets have a hole at the top, through which gaseous exchange can occur. Most limpets are less than 3 in (8 cm) long, but a West Mexican Limpet grows to be 8 in (20 cm).

Homing behaviour.

Some species of limpets return to the same spot on the rock known as a "home scar" just before the tide recedes. In such species, the shape of their shell often grows to precisely match the contours of the rock surrounding the scar. This behaviour presumably allows them to form a better seal to the rock and may help protect from either predation or desiccation. It is still unclear how limpets find their way back to the same spot each time. It is thought that they follow a mucus trail