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View synonyms for owl

owl

[ oul ]

noun

  1. any of numerous, chiefly nocturnal birds of prey, of the order Strigiformes, having a broad head with large, forward-directed eyes that are usually surrounded by disks of modified feathers: many populations are diminishing owing to loss of habitat.
  2. one of a breed of domestic pigeons having an owllike appearance.
  3. a person of owllike solemnity or appearance.


adjective

  1. operating late at night or all night:

    an owl train.

owl

/ aʊl /

noun

  1. any nocturnal bird of prey of the order Strigiformes, having large front-facing eyes, a small hooked bill, soft feathers, and a short neck
  2. any of various breeds of owl-like fancy domestic pigeon (esp the African owl, Chinese owl, and English owl )
  3. a person who looks or behaves like an owl, esp in having a solemn manner
“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


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Derived Forms

  • ˈowl-ˌlike, adjective
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Other Words From

  • owllike adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of owl1

before 900; Middle English oule, Old English ūle; cognate with Low German ūle, Dutch uil; akin to German Eule, Old Norse ugla
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Word History and Origins

Origin of owl1

Old English ūle; related to Dutch uil, Old High German ūwila, Old Norse ugla
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Idioms and Phrases

see night owl .
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Example Sentences

As a result, this abundant species is a critical resource for fish owls in winter.

The owl would see the fish, approach for a closer look, and get caught.

It was right around this time, when I’d come to terms with our failures, that we caught our first owl.

We’d still made some progress this year, even if we hadn’t caught any owls.

Either the resident fish owls were not interested in the frozen marine fish we offered as lures or the birds were unwilling to walk under the suspicious netted domes to investigate them.

This video remedies that injustice, showcasing an owl doing a butterfly stroke in Lake Michigan.

Fernandez-Duque discovered that owl monkeys are the only reliably monogamous mammal species.

Owl monkey offspring get an inordinate amount of care from their fathers.

Heads the Owl Monkey Project, which has been studying owl monkeys in Argentina for 18 years.

Keeping the hours of an owl, he does most of the location scouting and exploration.

The old owl no longer hooted, and the water-oaks had ceased to moan as they bent their heads.

Now under the ivy-laden branches of a tall old tree an owl startles them with its shriek.

He peers out through his black-rimmed eyeglasses with the solemnity of an owl—but you should hear his songs!

Others sit, on the full stare, eyes fixed as those of an owl, upon the speaker.

A contemporary pamphleteer compared him to an owl in the sunshine pursued and pecked to death by flights of tiny birds.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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