Owling

//ˈaʊ.lɪŋ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Birding, specifically to catch owls. uncountable
  2. 2
    A small, juvenile, or baby owl; owlet.

    "Owls are extra hungry then, there being a batch of Greatlings or Hornlings or Owlings or whatever Great Horned Owl babies are called sitting on the edge of a nest waiting on Pa and Ma Owl to bring home the bacon."

  3. 3
    The smuggling of sheep or wool out of England. historical, uncountable
  4. 4
    A variation on planking in which a person is photographed or filmed squatting down in an unusual location. Internet, uncountable

    "Planking was soon replaced by owling."

Synonyms

All synonyms
owletowlet

Example

More examples

"Planking was soon replaced by owling."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From owl + -ing. Smuggling of sheep is so called because it was done at night, when owls call.

Etymology 2

From owl + -ling.

More for "owling"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.