mopoke

noun

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
Australian and NZ slang a slow or lugubrious person

Also called (NZ): morepork

Word Origin

C19: imitative of the bird's cry

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

Examples from the Web for mopoke

Historical Examples

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
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

mopoke

Word Origin

Examples from the Web for mopoke

Historical Examples

The wind swayed gently the branches of the great she-oaks as a mopoke's mournful note came from the gum trees.

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