morepork (plural moreporks)
(chiefly, New Zealand) The Tasmanian spotted owl (Ninox novaeseelandiae), a small brown owl indigenous to New Zealand and Tasmania. [from 19th c.]
Synonyms: mopoke (Australia), ruru (New Zealand)
(Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, derogatory) Used as a mild term of abuse.
A foolish person; also, a person who is wearisome.
A person who is lazy or slow; a slowcoach, a slowpoke.
Synonym: Thesaurus:idler
• (bird of the genus Ninox): boobook, boobook owl, hawk owl
morepork
The call of a morepork.
Source: Wiktionary
More"pork`, n. Etym: [So named from its cry.] (Zoöl.)
Definition: The Australian crested goatsucker (Ægotheles Novæ-Hollandiæ). Also applied to other allied birds, as Podargus Cuveiri.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
1 June 2025
(verb) come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; “Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble”; “the political movie backlashed on the Democrats”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.