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howler

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
howl·er  (houlr)
n.
1. One that howls: a dog that is a persistent howler.
2. A howler monkey.
3. Slang A laughably stupid blunder.

howler
Noun
Informal a glaring mistake
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.howlerhowler - a joke that seems extremely funny
gag, jape, jest, joke, laugh - a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter; "he told a very funny joke"; "he knows a million gags"; "thanks for the laugh"; "he laughed unpleasantly at his own jest"; "even a schoolboy's jape is supposed to have some ascertainable point"
2.howlerhowler - monkey of tropical South American forests having a loud howling cry
New World monkey, platyrrhine, platyrrhinian - hairy-faced arboreal monkeys having widely separated nostrils and long usually prehensile tails
Alouatta, genus Alouatta - howler monkeys
3.howler - a glaring blunder
blooper, blunder, boner, boo-boo, botch, bungle, flub, foul-up, fuckup, pratfall, bloomer - an embarrassing mistake

howler
noun (Informal) mistake, error, blunder, boob Brit. (slang) bloomer Brit. (informal) clanger (informal) malapropism, schoolboy howler, booboo (informal) barry or Barry Crocker Austral. (slang)
Translations
Spanish howler [ˈhauləʳ] nplancha, falta garrafal
French howler [ˈhauləʳ] ngaffe f, bourde f
German howler [ˈhauləʳ] howl (inf) n (mistake) → Schnitzer m
Italian howler [ˈhauləʳ] nmarronata

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It was a common trick with the boys--particularly if a stranger was present--to pretend a cramp and howl for help; then when the stranger came tearing hand over hand to the rescue, the howler would go on struggling and howling till he was close at hand, then replace the howl with a sarcastic smile and swim blandly away, while the town boys assailed the dupe with a volley of jeers and laughter.
A plain, hard-featured little man, in a long black overcoat, and holding a howler hat in his hand, bowed respectfully to Mr.
At dawn and at sunset the howler monkeys screamed together and the parrakeets broke into shrill chatter, but during the hot hours of the day only the full drone of insects, like the beat of a distant surf, filled the ear, while nothing moved amid the solemn vistas of stupendous trunks, fading away into the darkness which held us in.
 
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