howlet

[ hou-lit ]

/ ˈhaʊ lɪt /

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noun British Dialect.

an owl or owlet.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of howlet

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

Words nearby howlet

howk, howl, Howland Island, howl down, howler, howlet, howling, howling success, Howlin' Wolf, howlround, how many angels can stand (dance) on the head of a pin?

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use howlet in a sentence

Leaving Howlet and Meadows grinning at a highly improbable adventure, he slapped the boy on the shoulder.
Fee of the Frontier|Horace Brown Fyfe
It would have been nice to see Meadows wind up rich, or for Howlet to become mayor of the dome, but what could I do?
Fee of the Frontier|Horace Brown Fyfe
Better if he sate in a barn and helped madge-howlet to catch mice!
Judith Shakespeare|William Black
And I heard close at hand the call of an owl, as like the whimper of a child as ever howlet's vesper mocked.
John Splendid|Neil Munro

"But I was not thinking of going there to-night," she added, and the howlet in the bush beside me hooted at my ignominy.
John Splendid|Neil Munro

British Dictionary definitions for howlet

howlet

/ (ˈhaʊlɪt) /

noun

archaic, poetic another word for owl

Word Origin for howlet

C15: diminutive of howle 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