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Owl   /aʊl/   Listen
noun
Owl  n.  
1.
(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.
2.
(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)  
1.
To pry about; to prowl. (Prov. Eng.)
2.
To carry wool or sheep out of England. (Obs.) Note: This was formerly illegal, and was done chiefly by night.
3.
Hence, to carry on any contraband trade. (Eng.)






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Owl" Quotes from Famous Books



... Somewhere away in the night an owl hooted, and Nap turned his head sharply, as one accustomed to take note of every sound. A while longer he stood, seeming to listen, every limb alert and tense, then swiftly he wheeled and gazed full at the drooping woman's figure ...
— The Knave of Diamonds • Ethel May Dell

... simple supper at an "Owl" lunch-cart, totally unaware that, across the street, a couple of Cosmos men were waiting for him to come out. And, after this, buying a Socialist paper, he strolled into Evans Park to sit and read, a while, by the red light of ...
— The Air Trust • George Allan England

... earnestly at one another. Outside, somewhere in the woodland, there sounded the haunting gush of a night-bird's song, shivering through the quietness like a silver bell. The sweet note finished in a frightened squawk, and was followed by the cry of an owl. The ...
— The Hand in the Dark • Arthur J. Rees

... suited for country houses, where every man would enjoy his company, and every woman would adore him. He had not then published "Piccadilly"; perhaps he was writing it; while, like all the young men about the Foreign Office, he contributed to The Owl. ...
— The Education of Henry Adams • Henry Adams

... across country by means of by-paths, in order to reach the spot where, according to the map and compass, I thought Vayrac ought to be. I came to a seventeenth century country-house, large enough to be termed a chteau, but now the dwelling of some peasant-farmer. It was a dilapidated, apparently owl-haunted building, with a dovecote tower over grown with ivy, and was half surrounded by a wall, whose tottering, ornamental pinnacles told a story of comparative grandeur that had come to grief in this remote spot. ...
— Two Summers in Guyenne • Edward Harrison Barker


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