night owl

plural night owls · alternative night-owl

1. literallyAn owl (order Strigiformes) that is nocturnal.

   For nightowles ſhreeke where mounting larkes ſhould ſing.

   1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]

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   Their Weapons like to Lightning, came and went: / Our Souldiers like the Night-Owles lazie flight, / Or like a lazie Threſher with a Flaile, / Fell gently downe, as if they ſtrucke their Friends.

   c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 153, column 1

   A night owl beat her pinions 'gainſt my head, / 'Till o' the ground I fell, wi' fright near dead!

   1783, Ben Jonson, [Francis Godolphin Waldron], The Sad Shepherd: Or, A Tale of Robin Hood, a Fragment, … With a Continuation, Notes, and an Appendix, London: Printed for J[ohn] Nichols, […]; and sold by C[harles] Dilly, […], →OCLC, act V, page 98

   The well imitated cry of the night-owl, too frequent a guest in the wilderness that its call should be a subject of surprise, seemed to be a signal generally understood among them; [...]

   1831 June–November (date written), Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter [IX], in Tales of My Landlord, Fourth and Last Series. […], volume IV (Castle Dangerous), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Company] for Robert Cadell; London: Whittaker and Co., published 1 December 1831 (indicated as 1832), →OCLC, page 220

   In the ruined chamber, which was but scantily lighted by a small grated window, he perceived a large night owl, seated upon the floor. Big tears rolled from her large, brown eyes, and with a hoarse voice she sent forth her lamentations from her curved beak.

   1840 February, “Caliph Chasid. An Eastern Tale.”, in [Margaret de Courcy and Beatrice de Courcy], editors, The Ladies’ Cabinet of Fashion, Music, and Romance, volume III, London: G. Henderson, →OCLC, chapter III, page 74

   Wild waileth the night-wind through turret and hall, / Where the spider weaveth the funeral pall, / And voice of old from the dead Past call, / While the night-owl responds from the crumbling old wall, / Tu-whit! the midnight is murky and drear— / Tu-whoo! the deed is a deed of fear.

   1867, Fadette [pseudonym; Marian Calhoun Legare Reeves], chapter VI, in Ingemisco, New York, N.Y.: Blelock & Co., […], →OCLC, page 99

2. idiomaticOne who goes to bed late, or stays up late at night or in the early hours of the morning.

   "You are one night owl, Monsieur Reetchie," he said. / "And you seem to prefer the small hours for your visits, Monsieur de St. Gré," I could not refrain from replying.

   1904 May, Winston Churchill, “Louisville Celebrates”, in The Crossing, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, book III (Louisiana), page 461

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   It has been said the perfect transportation salesman must be: "A man of vision and ambition; an after dinner speaker; before and after dinner goodfellow; he must work all day; be a night owl and still appear fresh the next day; [..."]

   1949 May, J. W. Hill, “Selling Rail Transportation”, in T. J. Zirbes, Jr., editor, Rock Island Lines News Digest, volume VIII, number 5, Chicago, Ill.: Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company, →OCLC, page 8, column 1

   And that's all for tonight, night owls. This is your Number-One-Night Owl saying it's 3 o'clock, all right, and time to rock your daddy to dreams of delight. And Mama, I'm comin' home. And the rest of you night owls gonna have to make it through the rest of the night by yourself, or with the help of your friends, if you know what I mean.

   1980, Marsha Norman, Third and Oak: The Laundromat: A Play in One Act, New York, N.Y.: Dramatists Play Service, →OCLC, page 5

   [H]e could make out the figure of a fellow weary eyed night owl standing one space in front of him. [...] He scooted an extra step forward, one and a half cordoned spaces from the counter, but snapped back to his unpleasantly boring reality, empty of enchanting night owls or hopes to be.

   2005, J. E. Dugas, “Tough Luck”, in Twisted Delirium: The Infinite Dream: A Novel, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 115

   Michelle [Obama] liked to wake up early and could barely keep her eyes open after ten o'clock. I was a night owl and could be a bit grumpy (mean, Michelle would say) within the first half hour or so of getting out of bed.

   2006, Barack Obama, “Family”, in The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, New York, N.Y.: Crown Publishers, →ISBN, page 338

   Night owls are least alert in the morning, most alert at night. This creates problems at work and at school. When night owls try to sleep at socially acceptable times, they have a hard time falling asleep and complain of insomnia.

   2009, Martin Reite, Michael Weissberg, John Ruddy, “Appendix 2: Patient Handouts”, in Clinical Manual for Evaluation and Treatment of Sleep Disorders, Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Publishing, →ISBN, page 345

   Synonyms: nighthawk, night person · Antonyms: day lark, early bird, lark, morning person

3. entertainmentA musical instrument which imitates an owl's hoot, consisting of a receptacle partly filled with water and a mouthpiece that is blown into.

   The night-owl,—a mug-shaped instrument, with an orifice in its side, through which a whistle is inserted,—when used, is partly filled with water, to give the tremulous owl-hoot sound.

   1874 May, James Judson Lord, “Haydn’s Children’s Symphony [actually the Toy Symphony, possibly by Leopold Mozart or Edmund Angerer]”, in [Mary Mapes Dodge], editor, St. Nicholas, volume I, number 7, New York, N.Y.: Scribner & Co., →OCLC, page 429, column 2

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   At the right was the piano, with a young lady seated, ready to play. Just before the curtain, and arranged in a semicircle, sat the juvenile orchestra,—Kitty with a tin trumpet; Jane with her night-owl filled with water and ready to pipe up; Julia with another bird, but having a different note; John with his drum, and Edward with his trumpet.

   1889, Charles Barnard, chapter VI, in The Tone Masters: A Musical Series for Young People, Boston, Mass.: New England Conservatory of Music, →OCLC, book I (Mozart and Mendelssohn), pages 189–190