# owling

Pronunciation: say "OW-ling" /ˈaʊ.lɪŋ/

## Noun

1. A small, young, or newly hatched owl.
   - Simple: A baby owl, or a young owl that is still growing.
   - _A single owling peered out from the hollow trunk at dusk._
   - _The owlings called softly for food once the night grew dark._
2. The activity of trapping or catching owls, pursued as a branch of birding.
   - Simple: The activity of going out to catch owls.
   - _Owling demands patience, sharp ears, and a tolerance for cold nights._
   - _The bird ringers took up owling so they could band and release the birds safely._
3. An internet craze, related to planking, in which a person is photographed or filmed squatting down in an unusual location.
   - Simple: A photo craze where a person squats like an owl in a strange place to be photographed.
   - _Owling spread across social media as friends shared photos of themselves squatting in odd spots._
   - _He attempted owling atop a parked car, perching with his hands tucked between his feet._
4. Taking sheep or wool abroad from England secretly and against the law.
   - Simple: The crime of smuggling sheep or wool out of England long ago.
   - _Owling thrived along the Kent coast, where wool fetched far higher prices overseas._
   - _Smugglers caught owling faced heavy fines and the loss of their boats._

## Origin

**Meanings 2–4** — From owl + -ing. The smuggling of sheep was called this because it was done at night, when owls call.
**Meaning 1** — From owl + -ling.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/owling (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).