monkey-faced owl

[ muhng-kee-feyst ]

noun

1. barn owl.

Word History and Origins

Origin of monkey-faced owl¹

An Americanism dating back to 1915–20

Example Sentences

Again he moved among the woods in autumn, hunting, but not too intent upon his game to fail to find the nuts scattered upon his path or to stop and, putting his hand in a hole of a decaying tree, bring out a blinking, monkey-faced owl.

From Project Gutenberg

This is the 'Monkey-faced Owl' of towers and steeples.

From Project Gutenberg

This is one of the lightest colored of the Owls; it has a long, peculiarly hooded face, from which it gets the name of "Monkey-faced Owl."

From Project Gutenberg

He looked so dam’ funny, sittin’ up on that ledge like a monkey-faced owl, that I couldn’t help laughin’, and of course it riled him some.

From Project Gutenberg

This bird is often called the Monkey-Faced Owl, and it should be called the Farmer's-Friend Owl.

From Project Gutenberg