DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 owl /ˈaʊ(ə)l/
 貓頭鷹

 Owl, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Owled p. pr. & vb. n. Owling.]
 1. To pry about; to prowl. [Prov. Eng.]
 2. To carry wool or sheep out of England. [Obs.]
 Note: ☞ This was formerly illegal, and was done chiefly by night.
 3. Hence, to carry on any contraband trade. [Eng.]
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 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.

 owl
      n : nocturnal bird of prey with hawk-like beak and claws and
          large head with front-facing eyes [syn: bird of Minerva,
           bird of night, hooter]

 Owl
    (1.) Heb. bath-haya'anah, "daughter of greediness" or of
    "shouting." In the list of unclean birds (Lev. 11:16; Deut.
    14:15); also mentioned in Job 30:29; Isa. 13:21; 34:13; 43:20;
    Jer. 50:39; Micah 1:8. In all these passages the Revised Version
    translates "ostrich" (q.v.), which is the correct rendering.
      (2.) Heb. yanshuph, rendered "great owl" in Lev. 11:17; Deut.
    14:16, and "owl" in Isa. 34:11. This is supposed to be the
    Egyptian eagle-owl (Bubo ascalaphus), which takes the place of
    the eagle-owl (Bubo maximus) found in Southern Europe. It is
    found frequenting the ruins of Egypt and also of the Holy Land.
    "Its cry is a loud, prolonged, and very powerful hoot. I know
    nothing which more vividly brought to my mind the sense of
    desolation and loneliness than the re-echoing hoot of two or
    three of these great owls as I stood at midnight among the
    ruined temples of Baalbek" (Tristram).
      The LXX. and Vulgate render this word by "ibis", i.e., the
    Egyptian heron.
      (3.) Heb. kos, rendered "little owl" in Lev. 11:17; Deut.
    14:16, and "owl" in Ps. 102:6. The Arabs call this bird "the
    mother of ruins." It is by far the most common of all the owls
    of Palestine. It is the Athene persica, the bird of Minerva, the
    symbol of ancient Athens.
      (4.) Heb. kippoz, the "great owl" (Isa. 34:15); Revised
    Version, "arrow-snake;" LXX. and Vulgate, "hedgehog," reading in
    the text, kippod, instead of kippoz. There is no reason to doubt
    the correctness of the rendering of the Authorized Version.
    Tristram says: "The word [i.e., kippoz] is very possibly an
    imitation of the cry of the scops owl (Scops giu), which is very
    common among ruins, caves, and old walls of towns...It is a
    migrant, returning to Palestine in spring."
      (5.) Heb. lilith, "screech owl" (Isa. 34:14, marg. and R.V.,
    "night monster"). The Hebrew word is from a root signifying
    "night." Some species of the owl is obviously intended by this
    word. It may be the hooting or tawny owl (Syrnium aluco), which
    is common in Egypt and in many parts of Palestine. This verse in
    Isaiah is "descriptive of utter and perpetual desolation, of a
    land that should be full of ruins, and inhabited by the animals
    that usually make such ruins their abode."