Link Centre Dictionary

owl

UK/aʊ(ə)l/ US/ˈaʊl/ fairly common slang

noun

1.

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

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English howle, oul, oule, owle, owlle, from Old English ūle, from Proto-West Germanic *uwwulā, from Proto-Germanic *uwwulǭ (“owl”), diminutive of *uwwǭ (“eagle-owl”), of imitative origin or a variant of *ūfaz, *ūfǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *up- (“to cry out”).

Phrases

  • Acadian owl
  • as wise as an owl
  • bare-legged owl
  • barn owl
  • barred owl
  • bay owl
  • blind as an owl
  • boobook owl

Related words

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.