gill-hooter dial.
(ˈdʒɪlˌhuːtə(r))
Also 7 gill-houter, 8–9 gilli(e)-, gilly-hooter, -howter, 9 jill-, jilly-hooter.
[f. the female name Gill (see gill n.4) + hooter1.]
An owl; esp. the barn-owl (Strix flammea).
| 1674 Ray N.C. Words 26 A Gill-houter, Chesh., an Owl. c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) Lanc. Dialect Wks. (1862) 34 Thoose ot connaw tell a Bitter-bump fro a Gillhooter. 1828 H. Angelo Remin. I. 492 If the lout who was pointed out to me just now, be he, I never beheld..such a scare⁓crow, such a long-legged gilly-hooter. 1856 F. E. Paget Owlet Owlst. 8 Not a leaf of ivy to shelter a gilliehowter. 1895 E. Angl. Gloss., Jill-hooter, jilly-hooter. |