owl Definition
owl (o̵ul)
noun
any of a worldwide order (Strigiformes) of predatory night birds distinguished by a large, flat face, eyes surrounded by stiff-feathered disks, a short, hooked beak, feathered legs with sharp talons, and soft plumage which permits noiseless flight: applied figuratively to a person of nocturnal habits, solemn appearance, etc.
Etymology: ME owle < OE ule, akin to Ger eule < IE echoic base *ul- > L ulula, owl, ululare, to howl
owl Related Forms
owl Synonyms
owl
n.
Kinds of owls include: hoot, barn, burrowing, great horned, great gray, screech, spotted, snow, snowy, tawny, barred, long-eared, short-eared, pigmy, boobook, saw-whet, hissing, African, Chinese; hawk owl, Richardson's owl.
owl Usage Examples
Converse of object
- hoot: Now herons call And wrangle by their pool; and hooting owls Sail from the wood above pale stooks of oats.
- burrow: The prairie marmot and the burrowing owl come into neighborly contact with the rattlesnake, but the acquaintance does not quite amount to friendship.
- perch: The middle tree has a hole in which is perched the cute baby owl.
- mob: Many small birds were mobbing the owl, and we watched a Gray Woodpecker attempt to drive it away by pecking at its feet!
Adjective modifier
- short-eared: Short-Eared Owls are active at any time of day or night.
- tawny: Tawny Owls have large eyes, which help them see small animals in the darkness.
- long-eared: Several owls were seen at dusk around the island during the latter half of December, most were probably Long-eared Owl.
- eared: Of note from the 14th was a Long Eared Owl perched by the scrape.
- snowy: Hedwig, the owl belonging to Harry Potter in the books, is a snowy owl.
- Stygian: Stygian Owls heard calling near some of the chalets overnight.
Modifies a noun
- hoot: Therefore, every night scene should have a minimum of one fox scream or owl hoot per two seconds.
- pellet: Take the " owl pellet " lesson, for example.
- chick: Dan has tried to tempt me into helping him rear his barn owl chicks.
- nest: They nest in old barns, in the hollows of old trees and will use owl nest boxes.
- boss: Owls boss Paul Sturrock told the official SWFC site: ' It's a huge blow.
- hunting: The Velux skylight opens east to the Wild Garden with sounds at night of the burn and owls hunting.
Noun used with modifier
- barn: The baby barn owls are able to eat their own body weight in food every night.
- screech: The barn owl is a familiar bird, famed for it rasping screech which accounts for its other name the ' screech owl ' .
- eagle: Can an eagle owl kill an adult fox, I wonder?
- hawk: Hawks owls and song birds sat on the wire.
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