nocturnal bird of prey with hawk-like beak and claws and large head with front-facing eyes
"The owl silently swooped down from its perch, using its large front-facing eyes to spot the mouse in the darkness."
Any of various birds of prey of the order Strigiformes that are primarily nocturnal and have forward-looking, binocular vision, limited eye movement, and good hearing.
"The new semantic web project is built using OWL to define complex relationships between data entities."
Initialism of Web Ontology Language.
In plain English: An owl is a bird with big eyes and soft feathers that flies at night to hunt for food.
"The owl hooted softly from its perch in the old oak tree."
Usage: Use "owl" to refer to a nocturnal bird known for its silent flight and large eyes, not as a verb meaning to smuggle goods which is an obscure usage. When describing these birds, note that they have limited eye movement but excellent forward-looking binocular vision adapted for hunting at night.
To smuggle contraband goods.
"The criminal managed to owl a large shipment of illegal drugs across the border at night."
In plain English: To owl means to talk quietly and secretly, usually by whispering through your fingers so you don't get caught.
"The loud owl came from upstairs, waking everyone up at 2 AM."
The word "owl" comes from Old English ūle, which was originally a diminutive form meaning "little eagle." Its roots trace back to Proto-Indo-European *up-, likely imitating the sound the bird makes.