howler

Definitions

• That which howls, especially an animal such as a wolf or a howler monkey.
• (historical) A person hired to howl at a funeral.
• (slang) A painfully obvious mistake.
• (slang) A hilarious joke.
• (slang) A bitterly cold day.
• (psychology) A person who expresses aggression openly in the form of threats.
• (sometimes) A heavy fall.
• (slang) A serious accident (especially to come a howler or go a howler; compare come a cropper (cropper)).
• (slang) A tremendous lie; a whopper.
• (slang) A fashionably but extravagantly overdressed man, a "howling swell".
• (historical) A 32-ounce ceramic, plastic, or stainless steel jug used to transport draft beer.