mopoke

/ (ˈməʊˌpəʊk) /


noun
  1. Also called (NZ): ruru a small spotted owl, Ninox novaeseelandiae, of Australia and New Zealand. In Australia the tawny frogmouth, Podargus strigoides, is very often wrongly identified as the mopoke

  2. Australian and NZ slang a slow or lugubrious person

Origin of mopoke

1
C19: imitative of the bird's cry
  • Also called (NZ): morepork

Words Nearby mopoke

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use mopoke in a sentence

  • You'll never be missed in the dark, and I 'll light plenty of candles now, and dazzle the mopoke.

    The Moving Finger | Mary Gaunt
  • The wind swayed gently the branches of the great she-oaks as a mopoke's mournful note came from the gum trees.

    Jean, Our Little Australian Cousin | Mary F. Nixon-Roulet