Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various often nocturnal birds of prey of the order Strigiformes, having hooked and feathered talons, large heads with short hooked beaks, large eyes set forward, and fluffy plumage that allows for almost noiseless flight.
- n. Any of a breed of domestic pigeons resembling owls.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A raptorial nocturnal bird of prey of the family Strigidæ Owls constitute a highly monomorphic group, the suborder Striges of the order Raptores. With few exceptions, they are of distinctively nocturnal habits and a peculiar physiognomy produced by the great size and breadth of the head and the shortened face with large eyes looking forward and usually set in a facial ruff or disk of modified feathers, which hide the base of the bill. Many owls have also “horns “(that is, ear-tufts) or plumicorns. The bill is hooked, but never toothed, and the nostrils open at the edge of the cere, not in it. The plumage is very soft and blended, without aftershafts. and the flight is noiseless. The talons are large, sharp, and hooked as in other birds of prey; the outer toe is versatile; and the feet are usually feathered to the claws. (See cut under
braccate .) There are many anatomical characters. (SeeStriges .) Owls are among the most nearly cosmopolitan of birds. They feed entirely upon animal substances, and capture their prey alive, as small quadrupeds and birds, various reptiles, fishes, and insects. They lay from three to six white eggs of subspherical shape. There are about 200 species, assigned to some 50 modern genera, and now usually considered as constituting 2 families, Aluconidæ and Strigidæ, or barn-owls and other owls. See cuts under barn-owl, Bubo, Glaucidium, hawk-owl, Nyctala, Otus, snow-owl, and Strix. - n. A variety of the domestic pigeon: so called from its owl-like physiognomy. The head is round, and the beak very short. There are several strains of owls, known as English, African, and Chinese. All run in various colors.
- n. A person whose pleasure or business it is to be up or about much at night.
- To carry on a contraband or unlawful trade at night or in secrecy; skulk about with contraband goods; smuggle; especially, to carry wool or sheep out of the country, at one time an offense at law.
- n. A dialectal form of wool.
- n. Sometimes applied to the barn-owl, Strix protincola, which is white below and when in flight seems almost entirely white. See cut at barn-owl.
Wiktionary
- n. Any of various birds of prey of the order Strigiformes that are primarily nocturnal and have forward-looking, binocular vision, limited eye movement, and good hearing.
- n. A person seen as having owl-like characteristics, especially appearing wise or serious, or being nocturnally active.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) Any species of raptorial birds of the family
Strigidæ . They have large eyes and ears, and a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits. - n. (Zoöl.) A variety of the domestic pigeon.
- v. Prov. Eng. To pry about; to prowl.
- v. obsolete To carry wool or sheep out of England.
- v. engraving Hence, to carry on any contraband trade.
WordNet 3.0
- n. nocturnal bird of prey with hawk-like beak and claws and large head with front-facing eyes
Etymologies
- Middle English owle, from Old English ūle, from Proto-Germanic *uwwalōn (compare West Frisian ûle, Dutch uil, Danish ugle), diminutive of *uwwōn ‘eagle-owl’ (compare German Uhu), variant of *ūfaz, *ūfōn (compare Swedish uv ‘horned owl’, Bavarian Auf), from Proto-Indo-European *up- (compare Latvian ũpis ‘eagle-owl’, Czech úpěti ‘to wail, howl’, Avestan ufyeimi ‘to call out’). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English owle, from Old English ūle, of imitative origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The cutter I used to make the owl is an Epilog Zing, which goes for around $8000.”
Laser-Cut Earbud Owl Keeps Your Cords Tangle-Free | Lifehacker Australia
“Yes the owl is also one of our sacred creatures, the great healer, quiet and humble.”
Jacobo Angeles: A rich wood-carving tradition in Oaxaca, dating to pre-Hispanic times
“An owl flying over them locks in the message: The word owl búho was slang for prostitute.”
“The owl is an embodiment of her father, Zeus, and he tells her that the time is not yet here.”
Review: Athena #2 | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News
“Whether you sleep tight or make like a night owl is up to you”
“Whether you sleep tight or play night owl is up to you”
“Hell, I told myself, if it leaves out Bubo, the mechanical owl from the original, then it already would be ahead of the game.”
“The owl is one of the anomalies of life on CPC-1, Centrica Energy's unsentimentally-named flagship rig in the heart of the South Morecambe gas field.”
“Guadalupe Storm-Petrel: barn owl is a cancer and developmental neurobiology researcher, medical educator, and frustrated natural historian; long-limbed, long digits, Northern European peasant and barbarian stock, lots of wild hair and prone to intellectual wild hares.”
“Surprisingly, when an owl is startled, it looks very similar to a turkey.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘owl’.
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Olde Englisc
English words of Anglo-Saxon origin.
onslaught, slain, clove, clave, thrice, nincompoop, scorn, storm, scant, lurk, beneath, atop and 143 more...
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Of Imitative Origin
Words formed in imitation of the sound of the things they signify.
bawl, biff, blizzard, blob, blooper, bob, boff, bomb, bonkers, boo, borborygmus, brouhaha and 148 more...
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•Open List: Flights of Fancy
Fictitious birds. Thanks to PossibleUnderscore for the idea! (Please add a brief description under "Comments" if the creature isn't well-known.)
phoenix, quetzalcoatl, thunderbird, roc, snipe, Roly-Poly Bird, ba, griffin, sphinx, Foghorn Leghorn, Heckle and Jeckle, firebird and 166 more...
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animals (1 syllable)
A list of common animal names. Keep the list to 1 syllable words.No scientific names. No proper names like 'Fluffy' the elephant.Insects and other creatures (even ficticious) are welcome!You can ...
dog, cat, bear, bee, ass, ape, horse, squid, bug, hare, hawk, pig and 138 more...
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birds
birds with singular names from
at least 9 English dictionariesaasvogel, aberdevine, accentor, accipiter, aepyornis, agami, albatross, alcatras, alcid, alcidine, amadavat, amokura and 1056 more...
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Nature and Environment
north, east, west, mountain, sea, beach, river, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, island and 205 more...
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3-letter Scrabble Words
aah, aal, aas, aba, abo, abs, aby, ace, act, add, ado, ads and 995 more...
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Animals
pig, camel, ant, ape, donkey, badger, bat, beaver, bee, cat, dog, cow and 82 more...
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Owls
owl, owls, bowl, howl, acknowledge, batfowl, barn owl, barred owl, bowlder, bowler, bowlegged, lawn bowling and 40 more...
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More Bird Wirds: North America
Birds endemic to the United States and/or North America.
toucan, peacock, weaver, bullfinch, redpoll, siskin, crossbill, finch, rosy-finch, oriole, cowbird, blackbird and 213 more...
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What's That Pokémon Name?
Words used to create the names of Pokémon, which are usually portmanteaux.
bulb, dinosaur, ivy, venus, char, salamander, squirt, turtle, blast, tortoise, water, caterpillar and 525 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
thunderfuck, incredible, merp, sara, flopparoo, smother, fugly, buer, plum, canny, nefelibata, cuntbucket and 1972 more... -
The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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3LW
3 letter words, not the girl band.
boggle and speed scrabble would not be half as fun without them.aah, boa, dot, fun, ick, log, oca, pyx, sos, was, aal, bob and 342 more...
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Two years
Okay, I admit it. I made a list of words my daughter knew when she was two years old.
bat, baba, a, abalone, about, acorn, adrienne, after, again, airplane, alison, all and 694 more...
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tomax's Words
legerdemain, yayo, extravasation, wont, faze, coxswain, concomitant, enclave, unguent, rhabdomyolysis, effluent, puerile and 432 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for owl.

madmouth let's compromise with at awl Mar 4, 2010
yarb I mean "at all". Damn it owl! Mar 4, 2010
yarb Bilby, yes, that look is what has earned them their awful reputation. But if there weren't people like madmouth who have issues with owls, they wouldn't have that reputation at owl. Mar 4, 2010
yarb I saw a stuffed pygmy owl the other day, and it was cute as, I won't say a button because it was cuter than that - it was cute as a toggle. Or a duffel - I mean the thing you get on a duffel-coat. Mar 4, 2010
bilby I saw an owl last night, sitting on the street sign at the end of Robinson Rd. And he/she did have that there-but-for-the-grace-of-madmouth-go-you kind of expression. Mar 4, 2010
madmouth I'm not crazy--they're crazy. I swear! Mar 4, 2010
yarb I think you just have issues with owls. Mar 4, 2010
madmouth the turning around kind? Mar 4, 2010
yarb What sort of face would you have them make, madm? Mar 4, 2010
madmouth It has been my long-held opinion that owls need to make some other face AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. this sort of thing verges on the obscene. Mar 4, 2010
bilby
O owl!
make some other face.
This is spring rain.
- Kobayashi Issa. Mar 4, 2010
PossibleUnderscore 'Owl' as seen here. Dec 21, 2009
yarb Me encantan buhos. May 23, 2009
mollusque òó May 22, 2009
bilby
I know very well what I'd rather be
If I didn't always have to be me!
I'd rather be an owl,
A downy feathered owl,
A wink-ity, blink-ity, yellow-eyed owl
In a hole in a hollow tree.
- Mary Austin, 'Rathers'. Nov 1, 2008
bilby Mr Owl ate my metal worm. Oct 18, 2008
sonofgroucho This is my favourite owl. Feb 17, 2007