owl Hear it!

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′·like′ adjective

owl Synonyms

owl

n.

owlet, bird of prey, night bird, nocturnal bird, owl pigeon, satinette, turbit, Bubo, Strix; see also bird 1.

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.