OWL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Owl

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/aʊl/ Listen

noun

Owl n.

(Zool.) Any species of raptorial birds of the family Strigidae. They have large eyes and ears, and a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits. Note: Some species have erectile tufts of feathers on the head. The feathers are soft and somewhat downy. The species are numerous. See Barn owl, Burrowing owl, Eared owl, Hawk owl, Horned owl, Screech owl, Snowy owl, under Barn, Burrowing, etc. Note: In the Scriptures the owl is commonly associated with desolation; poets and story-tellers introduce it as a bird of ill omen.... The Greeks and Romans made it the emblem of wisdom, and sacred to Minerva, and indeed its large head and solemn eyes give it an air of wisdom.

(Zool.) A variety of the domestic pigeon.

Owl monkey (Zool.), any one of several species of South American nocturnal monkeys of the genus Nyctipithecus. They have very large eyes. Called also durukuli.

Owl moth (Zool.), a very large moth (Erebus strix). The expanse of its wings is over ten inches.

Owl parrot (Zool.), the kakapo.

Sea owl (Zool.), the lumpfish.

Owl train, a cant name for certain railway trains whose run is in the nighttime.

verb

Owl v. i. (past & past part. owled; pres. part. owling)

To pry about; to prowl. (Prov. Eng.)

To carry wool or sheep out of England. (Obs.) Note: This was formerly illegal, and was done chiefly by night.

Hence, to carry on any contraband trade. (Eng.)

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Etymology of 'Owl'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Owl" Quotes from Famous Books

... family lived here in cages and hutches of all kinds, generally made out of old packing-cases. There was a large colony of white rats, two dormice named Paul and Silas, a jackdaw, rabbits, and a little yellow owl, not to mention the pigeons who fluttered in and out through the open door at will. They came whirling round Bridget now as she entered and settled on her shoulders and head, and pecked boldly at her shoes expecting to be fed. All the different little creatures in cages roused themselves too, and ...

— Our Frank - and other stories • Amy Walton

... me one day I was a miserable young idiot, and that I thought about nothing but birds and butterflies. Can't help it. I like to. I say, we'll go egging as soon as we've seen the owls. Wonder whether I can get an owl's egg for my ...

— Burr Junior • G. Manville Fenn

... of the house-tops you'll see her, In form of a vampire; 'tis then you must flee her; A crow of ill-omen she often is roaming, Or else as an owl that ...

— Operas Every Child Should Know - Descriptions of the Text and Music of Some of the Most Famous Masterpieces • Mary Schell Hoke Bacon

... things which are nothing, and so melancholy for lack of amusements properly to follow Old Veuve, that he could ask himself whether he had not done a deed of night, to be blinking at his fellow-men like an owl all mad for the reveller's hoots and flights and mice and moony roundels behind his hypocritical judex air of moping composure, chanced on Mr. Carling, the solicitor, where Lincoln's Inn pumps lawyers into Fleet Street through the drain-pipe of Chancery Lane. He ...

— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... that he guessed likely there wouldn't be much trouble at his end of the line, providing she could manage to worry along with a feller that went to sleep sittin' up, and in the daytime, like an owl. After she had gone, however, he again relapsed into slumber, and his dreams, judging by his ...

— Shavings • Joseph C. Lincoln

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