limpet

noun

lim·​pet ˈlim-pət 

1

: a marine gastropod mollusk (especially families Acmaeidae and Patellidae) that has a low conical shell broadly open beneath, browses over rocks or timbers in the littoral area, and clings very tightly when disturbed

2

: one that clings tenaciously to someone or something

3

: an explosive device designed to cling magnetically to a metallic surface (such as the hull of a ship)

Illustration of limpet

• limpet 1

Examples of limpet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

If this is the slow kind of hell, I’m used to it— My hands are folded the wrong way, the cat sits on the bed Like a limpet, the sun drops out of the sky, inexorable As a chandelier earring. —Jane Yeh, The New York Review of Books, 8 May 2025

The creatures include everything from a squat lobster to a deep-sea limpet. —Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Mar. 2025

Engineers tested the strength of the teeth of limpets — a kind of marine snail. —Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 17 Feb. 2025

The space-tug, latched onto the ISS like a limpet, will wait 12 to 18 months for the ISS' altitude to naturally decay from 402 kilometers to 220 kilometers (140 miles). —Keith Cooper, Space.com, 13 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English lempet, from Old English lempedu, from Medieval Latin lampreda lamprey

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

limpet

noun

lim·​pet ˈlim-pət 

: a marine mollusk that has a low cone-shaped shell, moves over rocks or timbers feeding on food found there, and clings very tightly when disturbed