night raven
- noun
:
garza nocturna
- We spotted a night raven fishing silently along the moonlit riverbank.
Examples
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Unlike most birds, the night raven thrives in the cool hours of dusk and night.
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The night raven hunts for fish in the moonlight.
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The night raven is rarely seen during the day, as it prefers to hunt after sunset.
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Many night ravens can be spotted near the lake.
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The night raven is rarely seen during the day, as it prefers to hunt after sunset.
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We spotted a night raven fishing silently along the moonlit riverbank.
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Unlike most birds, the night raven thrives in the cool hours of dusk and night.
Synonyms
1
6.8
A heron that hunts at night and in low light
A medium-sized bird like a heron with a black crown and grey wings that is active at night
A medium-sized bird that lives by water with a black cap on its head
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although the phrase is composed of transparent words 'night' and 'raven', a B1 learner would naturally interpret it as a raven (a corvid) that is active at night. The provided meaning — a night-active heron — does not follow from the literal constituents and is therefore unpredictable and misleading for learners, making the MWE idiomatic rather than compositional.
Etymology
Night raven comes from the picture of a dark, raven-like bird hunting at dusk. People used night for the time and raven for the dark, quiet look, so the name means a heron that is 'active at night'.