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单词 owl
释义

Definition of owl in English:

owl

noun aʊlaʊl
  • 1A nocturnal bird of prey with large eyes, a facial disc, a hooked beak, and typically a loud hooting call.

    Order Strigiformes: families Strigidae (typical owls such as tawny owls and eagle owls) and Tytonidae (barn owls and their relatives)

    Example sentencesExamples
    • The nocturnal owls, nightjars, and allies often are poorly known, and very few species have been studied in detail.
    • Common predators of house sparrows include cats and other mammalian predators, birds of prey, and owls.
    • Short-eared Owls are medium-sized owls with mottled brown and buff plumage.
    • Like most owls, Great Horned Owls have keen hearing and keen vision in low light, both adaptations for hunting at night.
    • In a peak year for hares, the hares edged out the voles as a source of meat for both adult owls and their owlets.
    • In winter, when invertebrates are scarce, owls that remain at northern latitudes take largely vertebrate prey.
    • Boreal Owls, known in Eurasia as Tengmalm's Owls, are small owls of the north.
    • What concerns bird lovers is that owls are birds of prey - and they don't make good pets.
    • The Barn Owl is a gray-and-tawny owl with a white, heart-shaped face and dark eyes.
    • And most important, the trees are homes for small animals like squirrels and chipmunks, and birds like owls and robins.
    • In truth, owls are magnificent birds, hunters of the dark that keep dangerous rodent populations well in check.
    • Flammulated Owls are small owls with short ear-tufts that can be held erect or flush to the head.
    • One element is the bird's facial disc, also found in other owls but best developed in the super-eared barn owl.
    • The night was still and no sound was heard, apart from the occasional hoot of the owl, the master of the shadows.
    • In the ever-present darkness that shrouds Dudleytown Hill, owls are said to hoot throughout the day.
    • As raptors like hawks and owls prey on the rodents, they risk being hit by a car.
    • The crickets chirped, and the owls hooted, praising natures majesty.
    • The noise reduction achieved from the tattered fringe makes owls the quietest flying birds, Lilley said.
    • An owl hooted and the sound reverberated off into the night, fading away into the distance until silence resumed once more.
    • The great majority of past studies in this area have been on birds of prey and owls.
    1. 1.1informal A person who habitually goes to bed late and feels energetic in the evening.
      Often contrasted with lark
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Ideally, people should wake at the same time everyday, but being an owl, you can probably cope quite well when your sleep pattern is disrupted.
      • Charlie is more of an owl - he likes to stay awake as long as he can at night and to take his time waking in the morning.

Derivatives

  • owlery

  • nounPlural owleries
    • He delved into ornithological archives, visited owleries in France and England and trawled charity shops in search of kitsch-looking toy owls as part of his research.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Metalfly rushed up the stairs, flying through the owlery and the annex connected to it.
  • owl-like

  • adjective
    • His thick, rimmed glasses made him look rather owl-like.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • In appearance, he was a rotund, rather owl-like figure, usually casually dressed.
      • It has an owl-like facial disk that is visible at close range.
      • She stared at the crowd with enormous owl-like eyes that blinked in mechanical measure just above a slight aquiline nose.
      • She shakily put her cup back on its blue china saucer and looked through her owl-like spectacles at Hannah.

Origin

Old English ūle, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch uil and German Eule, from a base imitative of the bird's call.

  • The name of the owl probably comes from an imitation of its call. The bird was traditionally taken as a symbol of wisdom—in classical times it was associated with the Greek goddess Athene—and to call someone owlish (late 16th century) suggests that they look solemn or wise. It is a nocturnal bird, and its name is also used for someone, a ‘night owl’, who habitually goes to bed late and feels more lively in the evening. The opposite is a lark. In the 17th century owling was the term for smuggling wool or sheep out of England, to avoid paying tax. Although possibly a different word, it may also come from the bird's nocturnal habits, since such smuggling would have been done at night.

Rhymes

afoul, befoul, cowl, foul, fowl, growl, howl, jowl, prowl, Rabaul, scowl, yowl
 
 

Definition of owl in US English:

owl

nounoulaʊl
  • A nocturnal bird of prey with large forward-facing eyes surrounded by facial disks, a hooked beak, and typically a loud call.

    Order Strigiformes: families Strigidae (typical owls such as tawny owls and eagle owls) and Tytonidae (barn owls and their relatives)

    Example sentencesExamples
    • The Barn Owl is a gray-and-tawny owl with a white, heart-shaped face and dark eyes.
    • And most important, the trees are homes for small animals like squirrels and chipmunks, and birds like owls and robins.
    • Like most owls, Great Horned Owls have keen hearing and keen vision in low light, both adaptations for hunting at night.
    • As raptors like hawks and owls prey on the rodents, they risk being hit by a car.
    • Short-eared Owls are medium-sized owls with mottled brown and buff plumage.
    • The night was still and no sound was heard, apart from the occasional hoot of the owl, the master of the shadows.
    • In truth, owls are magnificent birds, hunters of the dark that keep dangerous rodent populations well in check.
    • In winter, when invertebrates are scarce, owls that remain at northern latitudes take largely vertebrate prey.
    • The great majority of past studies in this area have been on birds of prey and owls.
    • The crickets chirped, and the owls hooted, praising natures majesty.
    • One element is the bird's facial disc, also found in other owls but best developed in the super-eared barn owl.
    • An owl hooted and the sound reverberated off into the night, fading away into the distance until silence resumed once more.
    • The nocturnal owls, nightjars, and allies often are poorly known, and very few species have been studied in detail.
    • In the ever-present darkness that shrouds Dudleytown Hill, owls are said to hoot throughout the day.
    • Boreal Owls, known in Eurasia as Tengmalm's Owls, are small owls of the north.
    • Common predators of house sparrows include cats and other mammalian predators, birds of prey, and owls.
    • In a peak year for hares, the hares edged out the voles as a source of meat for both adult owls and their owlets.
    • Flammulated Owls are small owls with short ear-tufts that can be held erect or flush to the head.
    • The noise reduction achieved from the tattered fringe makes owls the quietest flying birds, Lilley said.
    • What concerns bird lovers is that owls are birds of prey - and they don't make good pets.

Origin

Old English ūle, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch uil and German Eule, from a base imitative of the bird's call.

 
 
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更新时间:2024/9/20 18:47:55