See Also: puny(dictionary)
puny(dictionary)

owl(1) (iou) and puny (oh)


owl(1) (iou)



owl noun.
[Old English ule = Old Norse ugla, Old Low German word (whence Middle Low German, Middle Dutch ule, Dutch uil), from Germanic base repr. by Old High German uwila (Middle High German iule, German Eule).]
Any bird of prey of the order Strigiformes, typically nocturnal, feeding on mice, small birds, etc., and characterized by a large rounded head, raptorial beak, soft plumage, and large eyes directed forwards and surrounded by radiating feathers. OE.
barn owl, brown owl, church owl, eagle owl, hoot owl, horned owl, little owl, screech owl, snowy owl, tawny owl, etc.
transf. A person likened to an owl, esp. in looking solemn or wise or in being active at night. LME.
L. Macdonald A frightfully learned owl of a female. Times Some of us are owls who spend the mornings half asleep.
(A bird of) a fancy variety of the domestic pigeon characterized by an owl-like head and prominent ruff. Also owl-pigeon. E18.
More fully owl ray. = sandy ray s.v. SANDY adjective. M19.
Phrases etc.: sea-owl (now rare or obsolete) lumpfish. STUFFED owl.
Comb.: owl bus N. Amer.: running during the night; owl-butterfly any very large dusk-flying American butterfly of the family Brassolidae, esp. any of the genus Caligo having large ocelli on the hindwings; owl-faced monkey = owl-monkey below; owl-fly (a) = orl-fly s.v. ORL; (b) = owl midge below; (c) any predatory neuropteran insect of the chiefly tropical family Ascalaphidae, related to ant-lions; owlglass [translating German Till Eulenspiegel, a German peasant of the 14th cent. whose practical jokes were the subject of a 16th-cent. collection of satirical tales (cf. ESPIEGLE)] a jester, a buffoon (cf. owlspiegle below); owl jug a porcelain jug shaped like an owl; owl-light twilight, dusk; dim or poor light; owl midge = moth fly s.v. MOTH noun1; owl-monkey = night monkey s.v. NIGHT noun; owl-moth a very large Brazilian noctuid moth, Erebus strix; owl-parrot (now rare) = KAKAPO; owl-pigeon: = sense 3 above; owl-ray = sense 4 above; owlspiegle noun & verb (rare) (a) noun = owlglass above; (b) verb trans. cause to resemble an owlglass; owl-swallow a frogmouth; owl train US: running during the night.
owl-like adjective resembling (that of) an owl E17.
owly adjective = OWLISH L16.

puny (oh)



[Date: 1500-1600; Language: Old French; Origin: puisne 'younger', from puis 'afterward' + ne 'born']
a puny person is small, thin, and weak
::a puny little guy
::puny arms
not effective or impressive
puny effort/attempt
::a puny attempt at humour
::Our efforts look puny beside Fred's.
a puny amount of money is too small
::She was awarded a puny ¡ê1,000 in compensation.