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Glite Dictionary
🦉 A New Zealand owl 🐦 A kookaburra
laughing jackass

laughing jackass

9.9
A nearly extinct New Zealand owl with a loud call that sounds like laughter
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : búho risueño
  • The distinct call of the laughing jackass can often be heard echoing through the New Zealand bush.

Examples

  • Researchers are working to save the laughing jackass from extinction.

  • We heard a laughing jackass calling in the night.

  • The laughing jackass was once common in the forests of New Zealand.

  • Very few people today have ever seen a laughing jackass in the wild.

  • The laughing jackass is a rare sight in New Zealand.

  • Conservation efforts are crucial to ensure the survival of the laughing jackass in its natural habitat.

  • Many visitors to New Zealand are eager to catch a glimpse of the laughing jackass and hear its unique call.

Synonyms

laughing owl
vslaughing jackass
  • New Zealand
9.9

An almost extinct New Zealand owl with a loud laughing call

is the general English name that omits the indigenous name
Sceloglaux albifacies
vslaughing jackass
  • Specialized
9.9

An owl from New Zealand called the laughing owl that is now extinct

describes the species as almost extinct rather than fully extinct

Surface Forms

laughing jackass singular
laughing jackasses plural

Morphology

laughing + jackass

This is a lexicalized species name whose meaning (an Australian kingfisher noted for its loud, cackling call) cannot be predicted from 'laughing' (characterized by laughter) plus 'jackass' (donkey/insult). A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not infer a bird species from those parts, so the expression is idiomatic and non-compositional.

Etymology

Laughing jackass may come from early settlers who heard a New Zealand 'owl' make a strange laughing sound and a donkey-like bray. They used laughing for the sound and jackass (a donkey) for the bray, so the name points to the bird's laugh-like call.