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
The company plans to recreate the mammoth, dodo, and Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, by editing the genome of each species’ closest living relative to make a hybrid animal that would be visually indistinguishable from its extinct forerunner.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 4 Mar. 2025
To the west of the Wallace Line—in Borneo, Sumatra and Java—you’d encounter creatures with deep Asian roots: tigers, rhinoceroses, elephants and primates.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
Jennifer Hudson wore a tiger print sweater with a waist-cinching belt on an episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show, while Kelly Clarkson and Eva Mendes both reached for leopard print dresses.
—Jamie Allison Sanders, People.com, 28 Feb. 2025
In the photo, Trachtenberg wore a blue sweater with a tiger on it.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
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Katie Hunt, CNN, 4 Mar. 2025
To the west of the Wallace Line—in Borneo, Sumatra and Java—you’d encounter creatures with deep Asian roots: tigers, rhinoceroses, elephants and primates.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
Jennifer Hudson wore a tiger print sweater with a waist-cinching belt on an episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show, while Kelly Clarkson and Eva Mendes both reached for leopard print dresses.
—Jamie Allison Sanders, People.com, 28 Feb. 2025
In the photo, Trachtenberg wore a blue sweater with a tiger on it.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 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 9 Mar. 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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