Word.ws English Dictionary

laughing owl

laughing owl noun: an owl (Sceloglaux albifacies) of New Zealand, now probably extinct, named for its cry.

laughing owl: an owl (Sceloglaux albifacies) of New Zealand, now probably extinct, named for its cry
Image: John Gerrard Keulemans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

laughing owl (plural laughing owls)

  1. An owl (Sceloglaux albifacies) of New Zealand, now probably extinct, named for its cry.
    • Other birds, such as the emblematically distinctive huia and the laughing owl, followed soon after.2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 185
    Synonyms:
    whekau, white-faced owl

Synonyms of laughing owl

Forms of laughing owl

plurallaughing owls

Questions about laughing owl

What does laughing owl mean?
Laughing owl means an owl (Sceloglaux albifacies) of New Zealand, now probably extinct, named for its cry.
What part of speech is laughing owl?
Laughing owl is a noun.
What is the plural of laughing owl?
The plural of laughing owl is laughing owls.

Words near laughing owl in the dictionary

  1. laughing on the wrong side of one's mouth
  2. laughing one's ass off
  3. laughing one's head off
  4. laughing out of court
  5. laughing out of the other side of one's mouth
  6. laughing owl
  7. laughing owls
  8. laughing sickness
  9. laughing soup
  10. laughing stalk
  11. laughing stalks

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: laughing owl (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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