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# howler

«howler» in Mova's school dictionary: **a silly, obvious mistake, especially a funny one in…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a howler, howlers)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (informal) A howler is a silly, obvious mistake, especially a funny one in writing or an exam. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#m1)

2) A howler is an animal or person that howls, such as a howler monkey. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#m2)

3) A howler monkey is a large South and Central American monkey with a very loud call. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#m3)

4) (UK, old-fashioned) A howler was a letter that shouted at its reader; in the Harry Potter books a Howler is a magic red letter that yells. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In school it means a big, laughable error: writing «the Pacific Ocean is in Paris» is a howler. In science lessons howler monkeys are known as among the loudest land animals, heard kilometres away. In stories a howler can be a ghostly wind or a wolf. Phrases: «make a howler», «a real howler», «howler monkey».

### examples

- Writing that Shakespeare invented the telephone was a real howler. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#x1)
- The goalkeeper made a howler and let the ball roll between his legs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#x2)
- Howler monkeys shout to each other across the rainforest at dawn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#x3)
- Our teacher collects the funniest howlers from exam papers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#x4)
- The wind was a howler that night, rattling every window. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#x5)
- Ron got a Howler from his mum, and it screamed at him in the Great Hall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#x6)
- Check your answer twice so you don't make a howler. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/#x7)

### note

Countable: one howler, two howlers. Comes from the verb «howl» (a long loud cry). «Howler» for a mistake is informal but not rude. A howler monkey is a real animal, not a made-up one.

### In the corpora

- [Howlers rest most of the day, because their leafy food gives little energy.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/156-the-amazon-canopy/5/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «howler» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/howler/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.