Illustration of tiger
- tiger 1a
plural tigers
1
plural also tiger
a
: a large Asian carnivorous mammal (Panthera tigris) of the cat family having a usually tawny coat transversely striped with black
b
: any of several large wildcats (such as the jaguar or cougar)
c
: a domestic cat with striped pattern
d
Australia
: tasmanian tiger
2
a
: a fierce, daring, or aggressive person or quality
aroused the tiger in him
a tiger for work
b
: someone or something (such as a situation) that is formidable or impossible to control
how the tiger of inflation can be tamed—
J. A. Davenport
—often used in the phrases ride a tiger and have a tiger by the tail
J. A. Davenport3
British
: a groom in livery
tigerishly
adverb
tigerishness
noun
Examples of tiger in a Sentence
He was a tiger on the basketball court.
even the best defense can't keep that tiger from scoring
Recent Examples on the Web
Different types of swallowtails, including western tiger, pale, and anise, can be seen at Jack’s Peak, Johnston says.
—A.k. Whitney, Oc Register, 4 June 2025
Elsewhere, organised crime still has its tendrils in many parts of the sport across the globe, and the misty-eyed reverence for benevolent local tycoons is a notion that went extinct before the Tasmanian tiger.
—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 2 June 2025
Sure, lots of animals have orange, ginger, or yellow hues, like tigers, orangutans, and golden retrievers.
—ArsTechnica, 31 May 2025
The Cedar Cove facility has housed a variety of animals over the years, including big cats like tigers, bobcats and leopards, as well as other species such as wolves and foxes.
—J.m. Banks, Kansas City Star, 30 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
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A.k. Whitney, Oc Register, 4 June 2025
Elsewhere, organised crime still has its tendrils in many parts of the sport across the globe, and the misty-eyed reverence for benevolent local tycoons is a notion that went extinct before the Tasmanian tiger.
—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 2 June 2025
Sure, lots of animals have orange, ginger, or yellow hues, like tigers, orangutans, and golden retrievers.
—ArsTechnica, 31 May 2025
The Cedar Cove facility has housed a variety of animals over the years, including big cats like tigers, bobcats and leopards, as well as other species such as wolves and foxes.
—J.m. Banks, Kansas City Star, 30 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
Cite this Entry
“Tiger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tiger. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tiger
noun
ti·ger
ˈtī-gər 
plural tigers also tiger
1
: a large Asian flesh-eating mammal of the same family as the domestic cat with a coat that is typically light brown to orange with mostly vertical black stripes
2
: any of several large wildcats (as the jaguar or cougar)
3
: a domestic cat with a striped coat
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