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Glite Dictionary
barn owl

barn owl

1 2.6
A medium-sized owl with pale, spotted feathers that lives in barns and eats mice
  • noun
  • /bɑrn aʊl/
translation icon : búho de granero
  • The farmer welcomed the barn owl, knowing it would help control the growing rodent population.
  • find a barn owl

And that is that we, you know, we came up upon a barn owl that had just died somehow we don't know how.

Examples

  • The hopping flight of a barn owl above the rooftops of Ezrat Yisra'el.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • And that is that we, you know, we came up upon a barn owl that had just died somehow we don't know how.

    Rich Roll

  • Since the barn owl mostly lives near human habitats, it is an easy prey.

    Blog text (8)

  • The barn owl.

    Sweet and Lowdown (1999)

  • And there's this beautiful mapping of auditory space in the barn owl at that position in the brain.

  • And when you look up barn owls, San Francisco is not a regular barn owl habitat like they're rare here.

  • One large male took up residence in an abandoned sociable weaver-bird nest that was also home to a pair of barn owls.

    Academic text (1995)

  • "We thought it might attract some barn owls, but nothing ever came of it." "Oh, I love owls, Dad," Becky said, completely forgetting the reason they were there.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • One of Audubon's most effective images represents two barn owls against the background of an uncanny nightscape (III. 6).

    Academic text (1995)

  • A barn owl is often seen hunting for mice in the fields at dusk.

Synonyms

Tyto alba
vsbarn owl
  • Specialized
6.7

A medium-sized white owl often found in barns that eats mice and rats

has identical meaning but uses the everyday common English name

How Skilled

barn owl
1 2.6
mouser
3 7.7
cat
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

barn owl singular
barn owls plural

Morphology

barn + owl

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from 'barn' (a farm building) + 'owl' (a bird), indicating an owl associated with or commonly found in barns. This straightforward noun–noun compounding is a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Barn owl is named for where it often lives: old barns and farm buildings. These quiet owls eat mice and help farmers 'control mice', so the name links the bird to farms and its job.