Language: en
Meaning: (literally)Anowl(orderStrigiformes) that isnocturnal.c.1591–1592(date written),William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt,[…]”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward]Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act II, scene i],page153, column 1:Their Weapons like to Lightning, came and went: / Our Souldiers like theNight-Owleslazie flight, / Or like a lazie Threſher with a Flaile, / Fell gently downe, as if they ſtrucke their Friends.1595December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare],The Tragedie of King Richard the Second.[…](First Quarto), London:[…]Valentine SimmesforAndrow Wise,[…], published1597,→OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:Fornightowlesſhreeke where mounting larkes ſhould ſing.1783,Ben Jonson,[Francis Godolphin Waldron],The Sad Shepherd: Or, A Tale of Robin Hood, a Fragment,[...]With a Continuation, Notes, and an Appendix, London: Printed forJ[ohn]Nichols,[…]; and sold byC[harles]Dilly,[…],→OCLC, act V,page98:Anight owlbeat her pinions 'gainſt my head, / 'Till o' the ground I fell, wi' fright near dead!1831June–November (date written),Jedadiah Cleishbotham[pseudonym;Walter Scott], chapter[IX], inTales of My Landlord, Fourth and Last Series.[…], volume IV (Castle Dangerous), Edinburgh:[…][Ballantyne and Company] forRobert Cadell; London:Whittaker and Co., published 1 December 1831 (indicated as 1832),→OCLC,page220:The well imitated cry of thenight-owl, too frequent a guest in the wilderness that its call should be a subject of surprise, seemed to be a signal generally understood among them; [...]1840February, “Caliph Chasid. An Eastern Tale.”, in[Margaret de Courcy and Beatrice de Courcy], editors,The Ladies’ Cabinet of Fashion, Music, and Romance, volume III, London: G. Henderson,→OCLC, chapter III,page74:In the ruined chamber, which was but scantily lighted by a small grated window, he perceived a largenight owl, seated upon the floor. Big tears rolled from her large, brown eyes, and with a hoarse voice she sent forth her lamentations from her curved beak.1867, Fadette[pseudonym; Marian Calhoun Legare Reeves], chapter VI, inIngemisco, New York, N.Y.: Blelock & Co.,[…],→OCLC,page99:Wild waileth the night-wind through turret and hall, / Where the spider weaveth the funeral pall, / And voice of old from the dead Past call, / While thenight-owlresponds from the crumbling old wall, / Tu-whit! the midnight is murky and drear— / Tu-whoo! the deed is a deed of fear.1873,Leigh Hunt, “No. III. Piccadilly and the West End.”, in J[oseph]E[dward]B[abson], editor,The Wishing-cap Papers.[...]Now First Collected, Boston, Mass.:Lee and Shepard, publishers; New York, N.Y.: Lee, Shepard and Dillingham,→OCLC,page41:There we should have waked thenight-owlwith a catch, had an owl been within hearing. The watchman did instead.1892,Walt Whitman, “O Magnet-South”, inLeaves of Grass[…], Philadelphia, Pa.:David McKay, publisher,[…],→OCLC,page360:O the strange fascination of these half-known half-impassable swamps, infested by reptiles, resounding with the bellow of the alligator, the sad noises of thenight-owland the wild-cat, and the whirr of the rattlesnake, [...]1926,Sven Hedin, “Robinson Crusoe”, in[Alfhild Huebsch], transl.,My Life as an Explorer, London; New York, N.Y.:Cassell and Company,→OCLC,page142:From time to time, I called "Kasim!" at the top of my voice. But the sound died away among the tree-trunks; and I got no answer but the "clevitt" of a frightenednight-owl.2004, Priscilla Heath Barnum, “Explanatory Notes[Commandment IV]”, inDives and Pauper, volume II, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Published for theEarly English Text Societyby theOxford University Press,→ISBN,page141:In his discussion of this psalm [Psalm 101],Augustine [of Hippo] elaborates an allegory in which the three birds, the pelican, thenight owl('nycticorax') and the sparrow ('passer'), represent three aspects of, or stages in, the earthly life of Christ. The pelican represents his solitary birth and upbringing, thenight owlhis agony before and during the crucifixion, and the sparrow his resurrection.; (idiomatic)One who goes tobedlate, orstays uplate atnightor in theearlyhoursof themorning.Synonyms:nighthawk,night personAntonyms:day lark,early bird,lark,morning person1904May,Winston Churchill, “Louisville Celebrates”, inThe Crossing, New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company; London:Macmillan & Co., Ltd.,→OCLC, book III (Louisiana),page461:"You are onenight owl, Monsieur Reetchie," he said. / "And you seem to prefer the small hours for your visits, Monsieur de St. Gré," I could not refrain from replying.1949May, J. W. Hill, “Selling Rail Transportation”, in T. J. Zirbes, Jr., editor,Rock Island Lines News Digest, volume VIII, number 5, Chicago, Ill.:Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company,→OCLC,page 8, column 1:It has been said the perfect transportation salesman must be: "A man of vision and ambition; an after dinner speaker; before and after dinner goodfellow; he must work all day; be anight owland still appear fresh the next day; [..."]1980,Marsha Norman,Third and Oak: The Laundromat: A Play in One Act, New York, N.Y.:Dramatists Play Service,→OCLC,page 5:And that's all for tonight,night owls. This is your Number-One-Night Owlsaying it's 3 o'clock, all right, and time to rock your daddy to dreams of delight. And Mama, I'm comin' home. And the rest of younight owlsgonna have to make it through the rest of the night byyourself, or with the help ofyourfriends, if you know what I mean.2005, J. E. Dugas, “Tough Luck”, inTwisted Delirium: The Infinite Dream: A Novel, Lincoln, Neb.:iUniverse,→ISBN,page115:[H]e could make out the figure of a fellow weary eyednight owlstanding one space in front of him. [...] He scooted an extra step forward, one and a half cordoned spaces from the counter, but snapped back to his unpleasantly boring reality, empty of enchantingnight owlsor hopes to be.2006,Barack Obama, “Family”, inThe Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, New York, N.Y.:Crown Publishers,→ISBN,page338[1]:Michelle [Obama] liked to wake up early and could barely keep her eyes open after ten o'clock. I was anight owland could be a bit grumpy (mean, Michelle would say) within the first half hour or so of getting out of bed.2009, Martin Reite, Michael Weissberg, John Ruddy, “Appendix 2: Patient Handouts”, inClinical Manual for Evaluation and Treatment of Sleep Disorders, Arlington, Va.:American Psychiatric Publishing,→ISBN,page345:Night owlsare least alert in the morning, most alert at night. This creates problems at work and at school. Whennight owlstry to sleep at socially acceptable times, they have a hard time falling asleep and complain of insomnia.2012, Roz Denny Fox[pseudonym; Rosaline Fox], chapter 3, inDuke: Deputy Cowboy(Harlequin American Romance), Don Mills, Ont.:Harlequin Enterprises,→ISBN,page49:The thieves know this area. They'renight owls. And they're growing bolder.; (music)Amusical instrumentwhichimitatesan owl'shoot,consistingof areceptaclepartlyfilledwithwaterand amouthpiecethat isblowninto.1874May, James Judson Lord, “Haydn’s Children’s Symphony [actually theToy Symphony, possibly byLeopold Mozartor Edmund Angerer]”, in [Mary Mapes Dodge], editor,St. Nicholas, volume I, number 7, New York, N.Y.:Scribner & Co.,→OCLC,page429, column 2:Thenight-owl,—a mug-shaped instrument, with an orifice in its side, through which a whistle is inserted,—when used, is partly filled with water, to give the tremulous owl-hoot sound.1889, Charles Barnard, chapter VI, inThe Tone Masters: A Musical Series for Young People, Boston, Mass.:New England Conservatory of Music,→OCLC, book I (Mozart and Mendelssohn),pages189–190:At the right was the piano, with a young lady seated, ready to play. Just before the curtain, and arranged in a semicircle, sat the juvenile orchestra,—Kitty with a tin trumpet; Jane with hernight-owlfilled with water and ready to pipe up; Julia with another bird, but having a different note; John with his drum, and Edward with his trumpet.
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