Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Owl

Owl, n. [AS. ūle; akin to D. uil, OHG. ūwila, G. eule, Icel. ugla, Sw. ugla, Dan. ugle.]

1. (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.

☞ 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.

☞ 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. Am. Cyc.

2. (Zoöl.) A variety of the domestic pigeon.

Owl monkey (Zoöl.), any one of several species of South American nocturnal monkeys of the genus Nyctipithecus. They have very large eyes. Called also durukuli. — Owl moth (Zoöl.), a very large moth (Erebus strix). The expanse of its wings is over ten inches. — Owl parrot (Zoöl.), the kakapo. — Sea owl (Zoöl.), the lumpfish. — Owl train, a cant name for certain railway trains whose run is in the nighttime.

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.]

☞ This was formerly illegal, and was done chiefly by night.

3. Hence, to carry on any contraband trade. [Eng.]

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.