OWL

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Nocturnal bird of prey with hawk-like beak and claws and large head with front-facing eyes

Synonyms:

bird of Minerva; bird of night; hooter; owl

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("owl" is a kind of...):

bird of prey; raptor; raptorial bird (any of numerous carnivorous birds that hunt and kill other animals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "owl"):

owlet (young owl)

Athene noctua; little owl (small European owl)

horned owl (large owls having prominent ear tufts)

great gray owl; great grey owl; Strix nebulosa (large dish-faced owl of northern North America and western Eurasia)

Strix aluco; tawny owl (reddish-brown European owl having a round head with black eyes)

barred owl; Strix varia (large owl of eastern North America having its breast and abdomen streaked with brown)

Otus asio; screech owl (small North American owl having hornlike tufts of feathers whose call sounds like a quavering whistle)

screech owl (any owl that has a screeching cry)

scops owl (any of several small owls having ear tufts and a whistling call)

spotted owl; Strix occidentalis (a large owl of North America found in forests from British Columbia to central Mexico; has dark brown plumage and a heavily spotted chest)

hoot owl (any owl that hoots as distinct from screeching)

hawk owl; Surnia ulula (grey-and-white diurnal hawk-like owl of northern parts of the northern hemisphere)

Asio otus; long-eared owl (slender European owl of coniferous forests with long ear tufts)

laughing jackass; laughing owl; Sceloglaux albifacies (almost extinct owl of New Zealand)

barn owl; Tyto alba (mottled buff and white owl often inhabiting barns and other structures; important in rodent control)

Holonyms ("owl" is a member of...):

order Strigiformes; Strigiformes (owls)

Derivation:

owlet (young owl)

Credits

Context examples:

All the day long she flew about in the form of an owl, or crept about the country like a cat; but at night she always became an old woman again.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

A new study has revealed how inspiration from owls’ wings could allow aircraft and wind turbines to become quieter.

(Owls' Wings Key to Beating Wind Turbine Noise, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

For a time, it seemed that the spotted owl was also threatened by competition from the faster-breeding barred owl, which had moved west into its territory.

(Researchers find preserving spotted owl habitat may not require a tradeoff with wildfire risk after all, Wikinews)

I sit with my eye on Mr. Creakle, blinking at him like a young owl; when sleep overpowers me for a minute, he still looms through my slumber, ruling those ciphering-books, until he softly comes behind me and wakes me to plainer perception of him, with a red ridge across my back.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I weren't a-goin' to fight, so I waited for the food, and did with my 'owl as the wolves, and lions, and tigers does. But, Lor' love yer 'art, now that the old 'ooman has stuck a chunk of her tea-cake in me, an' rinsed me out with her bloomin' old teapot, and I've lit hup, you may scratch my ears for all you're worth, and won't git even a growl out of me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Yet here you bring me to a shred of a man, peaky and ill-nourished, with eyes like a moulting owl, who must needs, forsooth, take counsel with his mother ere he buckle sword to girdle.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And now the sun went quite down; the gloomy night came; the owl flew into a bush; and a moment after the old fairy came forth pale and meagre, with staring eyes, and a nose and chin that almost met one another.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Serrated leading-edges reduce aerodynamic performance at lower AoAs than 15° compared to clean leading-edges, but can achieve noise reduction and aerodynamic performance at AoAs above 15°, which owl wings often reach in flight.