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hibou

owl

noun ee-BOO Rare

Usage Note

hibou is the generic word for an owl (with ear tufts), while chouette refers to owls without ear tufts and is also slang for 'great, cool'. The plural is hiboux (with -x, following the -ou→-oux rule). Owls are associated with wisdom in French culture, as elsewhere.

Examples

"Le hibou chasse les souris la nuit."

Natural Translation

The owl hunts mice at night.

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