Morepork

Quick meaning: Morepork is a noun meaning (Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, derogatory) Used as a mild term of abuse.

Meaning

(Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, derogatory) Used as a mild term of abuse.

More Meanings

1. The call of a morepork.
2. (chiefly New Zealand) The Tasmanian spotted owl (Ninox novaeseelandiae), a small brown owl indigenous to New Zealand and Tasmania.

Example Sentences

[I]t was better fun wandering about with the old man at night than moping in my hut, listening to the morepoke.

I remember that at night there was usually a morepork in the tree, whose eerie calls scared me as I lay still in bed, with firmly closed eyes, waiting for a possible attack.

[T]he eye of the Morepork or Greater Night Jarr,^([sic]) which I lately had the opportunity of examining, is wonderfully adapted for enabling it to see the insects in the dark, on which it feeds.

Although the living figure of our owl may be unknown to most persons, from the nature of its habits, yet few, perhaps very few, of the older settlers are unacquainted with the human-like cry of the More-pork.

Word Forms

• moreporks
• morepoke

Synonyms for morepork

Depending on context, synonyms include mopoke, ruru.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include morepoke, mopehawk, ruru, mopoke, tokoeka, notornis.

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