'Laughing owl' definitions:
Definition of 'laughing owl'
From: WordNet
noun
Almost extinct owl of New Zealand [syn: laughing owl, laughing jackass, Sceloglaux albifacies]
Definition of 'Laughing owl'
From: GCIDE
- Laughing \Laugh"ing\, a. & n. from Laugh, v. i. [1913 Webster]
- Laughing falcon (Zool.), a South American hawk (Herpetotheres cachinnans); -- so called from its notes, which resemble a shrill laugh.
- Laughing gas (Chem.), nitrous oxide, also called hyponitrous oxide, or protoxide of nitrogen; -- so called from the exhilaration and laughing which it sometimes produces when inhaled. It has been much used as an anaesthetic agent, though now its use is primarily in dentistry
- Laughing goose (Zool.), the European white-fronted goose.
- Laughing gull. (Zool.) (a) A common European gull (Xema ridibundus); -- called also pewit, black cap, red-legged gull, and {sea crow}. (b) An American gull (Larus atricilla). In summer the head is nearly black, the back slate color, and the five outer primaries black.
- Laughing hyena (Zool.), the spotted hyena. See Hyena.
- Laughing jackass (Zool.), the great brown kingfisher (Dacelo gigas), of Australia; -- called also {giant kingfisher}, and gogobera.
- Laughing owl (Zool.), a peculiar owl ({Sceloglaux albifacies}) of New Zealand, said to be on the verge of extinction. The name alludes to its notes. [1913 Webster]