prairie owl
AmericanEtymology
Origin of prairie owl
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
No living thing stirred, save now and then a prairie owl flitting through the gloom added to the sombre desolation of the scene.
From The Great Lone Land A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of America by Butler, William Francis
Here and there a prairie owl would whirl low to the ground with a throaty chuckle for a time, but that soon ceased.
From I Married a Ranger by Smith, Dama Margaret
In the lull, the soft night-breeze crooned its minor song, while near or far away—no human ear could measure the distance—a prairie owl gave its weird cry.
From Ben Blair The Story of a Plainsman by Lillibridge, Will
The sharp bark of the coyote, near or far away; soft as an echo, the gently cadenced tremolo of the prairie owl.
From A Breath of Prairie and other stories by Marchand, J. N.
Of a sudden, out of the maize patch, out of the grass, seemingly out of space itself, came a new cry—the trilling call of the prairie owl.
From Where the Trail Divides by Lillibridge, Will
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.
