Definition: owl

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

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]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Owl \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.]

Owl \Owl\, n. [AS. [=u]le; akin to D. uil, OHG. [=u]wila, G.
   eule, Icel. ugla, Sw. ugla, Dan. ugle.]
   1. (Zo["o]l.) Any species of raptorial birds of the family
      Strigid[ae]. 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. --Am. Cyc.

   2. (Zo["o]l.) A variety of the domestic pigeon.

   Owl monkey (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of South
      American nocturnal monkeys of the genus Nyctipithecus.
      They have very large eyes. Called also durukuli.

   Owl moth (Zo["o]l.), a very large moth (Erebus strix).
      The expanse of its wings is over ten inches.

   Owl parrot (Zo["o]l.), the kakapo.

   Sea owl (Zo["o]l.), the lumpfish.

   Owl train, a cant name for certain railway trains whose run
      is in the nighttime.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10)

OWL

   1. <company> Office Workstations Limited.

   2.  Object Windows Language.

   (1996-01-13)

Owl

   The original name of Trellis.

   (1995-01-19)

Source: V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms December 2001

OWL
        Object Windows Library (Borland, API)

OWL
        Open Windows Library (API)

Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

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."