Owl n.
 1. Zool. Any species of raptorial birds of the family Strigidae.  They have large eyes and ears, and a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye.  They are mostly nocturnal in their habits.
 Note: ☞ Some species have erectile tufts of feathers on the head.  The feathers are soft and somewhat downy.  The species are numerous.  See Barn owl, Burrowing owl, Eared owl, Hawk owl, Horned owl, Screech owl, Snowy owl, under Barn, Burrowing, etc.
 Note: ☞ In the Scriptures the owl is commonly associated with desolation; poets and story-tellers introduce it as a bird of ill omen.  . . . The Greeks and Romans made it the emblem of wisdom, and sacred to Minerva, -- and indeed its large head and solemn eyes give it an air of wisdom.
 2. Zool. A variety of the domestic pigeon.
 Owl monkey Zool., any one of several species of South American nocturnal monkeys of the genus Nyctipithecus.  They have very large eyes.  Called also durukuli.
 Owl moth Zool., a very large moth (Erebus strix). The expanse of its wings is over ten inches.
 Owl parrot Zool., the kakapo.
 Sea owl Zool., the lumpfish.
 Owl train, a cant name for certain railway trains whose run is in the nighttime.
 Snow·y a.
 1. White like snow. “So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows.”
 2. Abounding with snow; covered with snow. “The snowy top of cold Olympus.”
 3. Fig.: Pure; unblemished; unstained; spotless.
    There did he lose his snowy innocence.   --J. Hall (1646).
 Snowy heron Zool., a white heron, or egret (Ardea candidissima), found in the Southern United States, and southward to Chile; -- called also plume bird.
 Snowy lemming Zool., the collared lemming (Cuniculus torquatus), which turns white in winter.
 Snowy owl Zool., a large arctic owl (Nyctea Scandiaca, or Nyctea nivea) common all over the northern parts of the United States and Europe in winter time.  Its plumage is sometimes nearly pure white, but it is usually more or less marked with blackish spots.  Called also white owl.
 Snowy plover Zool., a small plover (Aegialitis nivosa) of the western parts of the United States and Mexico. It is light gray above, with the under parts and portions of the head white.
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