Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A large carnivorous feline mammal (Panthera tigris) of Asia, having a tawny coat with transverse black stripes.
  • noun Any of various similar wild felines, such as the jaguar, mountain lion, or lynx.
  • noun A person regarded as aggressive, audacious, or fierce.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In poker, a hand which is seven high and deuce low, without a pair, sequence, or flush. When played, it beats a straight and loses to a flush. Sometimes called a little dog.
  • noun In Central and South America the jaguar, Felis onca, whoso black and yellow coat suggests the Asiatic tiger.
  • noun A feline quadruped, Felis tigris or Tigris regalis, one of the two largest living cats (the other being the lion), of the family Felidæ.
  • noun The thylacine dasyure, or tiger-wolf: so called from the stripes. See thylacine (with cut).
  • noun A person of a fierce, bloodthirsty disposition.
  • noun A dissolute swaggering dandy; a ruffling blade; a swaggerer; a hector; a bully; a mohawk.
  • noun A groom who goes out with the equipage of his master—that is, with the dog-cart, curricle, cab, or other vehicle driven by the master himself, his duty being to take care of the equipage when the master has left the box.
  • noun An additional cheer; “one more” (often the word tiger): as, three cheers and a tiger.
  • noun In sugarmanuf., a tank with a perforated bottom, through which the molasses escapes.
  • noun A bug of the family Tingitidæ: translating the French name.
  • noun A fabulous bird. See the extract.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A very large and powerful carnivore (Felis tigris) native of Southern Asia and the East Indies. Its back and sides are tawny or rufous yellow, transversely striped with black, the tail is ringed with black, the throat and belly are nearly white. When full grown, it equals or exceeds the lion in size and strength. Called also royal tiger, and Bengal tiger.
  • noun Fig.: A ferocious, bloodthirsty person.
  • noun A servant in livery, who rides with his master or mistress.
  • noun Colloq. U. S. A kind of growl or screech, after cheering.
  • noun A pneumatic box or pan used in refining sugar.
  • noun (Zoöl.) The jaguar.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a handsome striped and spotted carnivore (Felis macrocelis or Felis marmorata) native of the East Indies and Southern Asia. Its body is about three and a half feet long, and its tail about three feet long. Its ground color is brownish gray, and the dark markings are irregular stripes, spots, and rings, but there are always two dark bands on the face, one extending back from the eye, and one from the angle of the mouth. Called also tortoise-shell tiger.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the jaguar.
  • noun (Zoöl.) any one of numerous species of active carnivorous beetles of the family Cicindelidæ. They usually inhabit dry or sandy places, and fly rapidly.
  • noun (Zoöl.) See Sun bittern, under Sun.
  • noun (Zoöl.) any one of several species of wild cats of moderate size with dark transverse bars or stripes somewhat resembling those of the tiger.
  • noun (Bot.) an iridaceous plant of the genus Tigridia (as Tigridia conchiflora, Tigridia grandiflora, etc.) having showy flowers, spotted or streaked somewhat like the skin of a tiger.
  • noun (Bot.) a low East Indian fan palm (Chamærops Ritchieana). It is used in many ways by the natives.
  • noun (Bot.) See under Lily.
  • noun (Zoöl.) any one of numerous species of moths of the family Arctiadæ which are striped or barred with black and white or with other conspicuous colors. The larvæ are called woolly bears.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a voracious shark (Galeocerdo tigrinus syn. Galeocerdo maculatus) more or less barred or spotted with yellow. It is found in both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Called also zebra shark.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a large and conspicuously spotted cowrie (Cypræa tigris); -- so called from its fancied resemblance to a tiger in color and markings. Called also tiger cowrie.
  • noun (Zoöl.) either of two very venomous snakes of Tasmania and Australia, Notechis scutatis and Notechis ater, which grow up to 5 feet in length.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the spotted hyena (Hyæna crocuta).
  • noun the variegated heartwood of a tree (Machærium Schomburgkii) found in Guiana.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
  • noun A servant in livery, who rides with his master or mistress
  • noun South Africa A leopard.
  • noun US, slang A person who is very athletic during intercourse.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large feline of forests in most of Asia having a tawny coat with black stripes; endangered
  • noun a fierce or audacious person

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English tigre, from Old English tigras, tigers, and from Old French tigre, both from Latin tigris, from Greek, of Iranian origin; see steig- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English tygre, in part from Old English tigras (pl.), in part from Anglo-Norman tigre, both from Latin tigris, from Ancient Greek τίγρις (tígris), from Iranian (compare Avestan tigri ("arrow"), tiγra ("pointed")). More at stick.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word tiger.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "Tiger, tiger burning bright..."

    February 18, 2007

  • “The Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger was a single-seat carrier-based United States Navy fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s.�? More on Wikipedia.

    December 30, 2008

  • banjo : ferns :: pecan : ?

    July 24, 2010