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mopoke

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
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Also called (NZ): morepork

Word Origin for mopoke

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 of mopoke

  • 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.