screech owl
Americannoun
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any of numerous small American owls of the genus Otus, having hornlike tufts of feathers, as O. asio, of eastern North America.
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(not in technical use) any owl having a harsh cry, especially the barn owl.
noun
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a small North American owl, Otus asio, having ear tufts and a reddish-brown or grey plumage
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any owl that utters a screeching cry
Etymology
Origin of screech owl
First recorded in 1585–95
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.
The day after high school graduation, Dolly boarded the first bus for Nashville, where record producers said she sounded like a screech owl and was too country to sing country music.
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2026
This year, the Wildlife Center of Virginia posted on Facebook about an Eastern screech owl that flew into a glue trap.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
It won't take long to feel enamored of the newly adopted member of Carl Safina's family: a baby screech owl.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 1, 2023
A few doors down from the vulture, we came to a whiskered screech owl, a gray owl with large yellow eyes spray-painted on a black security screen.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 7, 2022
Besides, there were a few bad luck things that I believed in—things like hearing a screech owl at midnight, tripping over a broom, or dropping the water bucket in the well.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
