screech owl

or screech-owl


noun
  1. any of numerous small American owls of the genus Otus, having hornlike tufts of feathers, as O. asio, of eastern North America.

  2. (not in technical use) any owl having a harsh cry, especially the barn owl.

Origin of screech owl

1
First recorded in 1585–95

Words Nearby screech owl

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use screech owl in a sentence

  • Only in one of the trees a screech owl, still under the impression that it was night, continued his curious wailing.

  • A little screech owl tuned up in the distance, a barn owl replied, and a great horned owl drowned both their voices.

    A Girl Of The Limberlost | Gene Stratton Porter
  • A screech owl called and startled her; Tory had a sudden attack of nerves; running ahead a few yards, she stumbled.

  • They had on the right side of the head a thick tuft of screech owl feathers, the distinctive sign of the band.

  • He then declares that the disease is caused by a mere screech owl, which he at once banishes to the laurel thicket.

British Dictionary definitions for screech owl

screech owl

noun
  1. a small North American owl, Otus asio, having ear tufts and a reddish-brown or grey plumage

  2. British any owl that utters a screeching 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