Green’s Dictionary of Slang

father n.

1. the owner of a common lodging house.

[UK]Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 381/2: since ca. 1840.

2. a receiver of stolen goods [play on uncle n. (1)].

[UK]Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc.
[UK]Hotten Sl. Dict.
[UK]Sl. Dict.
[Aus]Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 28: Father [...] a receiver of stolen property.
[Aus]Argus (Melbourne) 20 Sept. 6/4: A receiver of stolen property [is] a father.

3. (US prison) the dominant lesbian of a small ‘family’ group.

[US]Kosofsky & Ellis ‘Illegal Communication Among Institutionalized Female Delinquents’ in Journal of Social Psychology Aug. 157: The father is very frequently known as the ‘a stud.’ The mother frequently is known as a ‘frail’.

4. (US drugs) a large-scale drug dealer.

[US]Cressey & Ward Delinquency, Crime, and Social Process 821: And I seen a chance where I can be father (big-time dope dealer).

SE in slang uses

In compounds

father-fucker/-fucking

see separate entries.

father-in-law (n.) [punning on their characteristics]

a combination of mild and stout ales.

[UK]Belfast News-Letter 11 Apr. 6/5: The combination of old and bitter ale is ‘mother-in-law’, while stout and mild (ale) is of course ‘father-in-law’.

In phrases

father of (n.)

(Aus.) an extreme example.

[Aus]Lone Hand (Sydney) Feb. 405/2: ‘The damned old scoundrel [...] I’ll go out and give him the father of a hiding’.