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 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
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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 CousinMary 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 FingerMary Gaunt