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howlet

American  
[hou-lit] / ˈhaʊ lɪt /

noun

British Dialect.
  1. an owl or owlet.


howlet British  
/ ˈhaʊlɪt /

noun

  1. archaic another word for owl

"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

Etymology

Origin of howlet

1425–75; late Middle English; perhaps < French hulotte wood-owl, perhaps derivative of Middle French huler to howl < Germanic; howl

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Before we succumb to moral outrage we should recall how a "howlet's wing" is added to the witches' broth in act four of Macbeth.

From The Guardian

Parsons, under the lugubrious designation of John Howlet, that is, Owlet, sent forth his “screechings;” and Campian, too confident of his irrefutable “Decem Rationes,” was so imprudent as to publish “A Challenge for a Public Disputation” in the presence of the queen.

From Project Gutenberg

Rowland Burdon, Esq. the Rev. Dr. Glasse, the Rev. Thomas Gisburn, the Rev. Mr. Howlet, Mr. Davis, Mr. Townsend, Arthur Young, Esq. and William Sabatier, Esq. as well as several other respectable living characters, who have particularly turned their thoughts to the subject of the Poor, the Public are not only already much indebted, but from this prolific resource of judgment, talents, and knowledge, much good might be expected, if ever the period shall arrive when the revision of the Poor Laws shall engage the attention of the Legislature.

From Project Gutenberg

All the batteries joined, all the forts, the gunboats in the Appomattox, the batteries west of Bermuda Hundred, and the monitors by the Howlet House.

From Project Gutenberg

"Howlet here, howlet there, Jenny, ye ken weel his auld brass will buy you a new pan."

From Project Gutenberg