HOWLER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does howler mean? 

• HOWLER (noun)
  The noun HOWLER has 3 senses:

1. a joke that seems extremely funny

2. monkey of tropical South American forests having a loud howling cry

3. a glaring blunder

  Familiarity information: HOWLER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HOWLER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A joke that seems extremely funny

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

belly laugh; howler; riot; scream; sidesplitter; thigh-slapper; wow

Hypernyms ("howler" is a kind of...):

gag; jape; jest; joke; laugh (a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter)

Derivation:

howl (laugh unrestrainedly and heartily)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Monkey of tropical South American forests having a loud howling cry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

howler; howler monkey

Hypernyms ("howler" is a kind of...):

New World monkey; platyrrhine; platyrrhinian (hairy-faced arboreal monkeys having widely separated nostrils and long usually prehensile tails)

Holonyms ("howler" is a member of...):

Alouatta; genus Alouatta (howler monkeys)

Derivation:

howl (cry loudly, as of animals)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A glaring blunder

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("howler" is a kind of...):

bloomer; blooper; blunder; boner; boo-boo; botch; bungle; flub; foul-up; fuckup; pratfall (an embarrassing mistake)

 Context examples 

The changes are associated with proteins involved in viral replication, and were detected after the first full genome sequencing of the samples from two howler monkeys.

(Brazil scientists find mutations in yellow fever virus, Agência Brasil)

Ten species have been selected for this task, including the jaguar, the howler monkey, and the pink river dolphin.

(Amazon jungle animals to be monitored by sensors, Agência Brasil)

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.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

These animals include jaguars, Spix's macaws, harpy eagles, vinaceous-breasted amazons, crowned solitary eagles, hawksbill turtles, green turtles, tarantulas, Amazon false coral snakes, Brazilian green racer snakes, cream-colored woodpeckers, blue spiny starfish, sharks, seahorses, piaba fish, sawfish, bluefin tuna, brown howler monkeys.

(Over 300 animal species threatened in Bahia, Agência Brasil)