tiger
Pluraltigers
- 1A big wild cat from Asia with orange fur and black stripes.
Like a giant house cat, but big enough to hunt deer.
A tiger can weigh more than three adult men.
We saw a tiger sleeping in the shade at the zoo.
Note
- 2
- 3A small country whose economy is growing very fast.
Like a small runner who suddenly races ahead of much bigger ones.
Singapore grew into an economic tiger in just a few decades.
Many people hoped their country would become the next tiger.
UsageSay an economic tiger or the Asian tigers.
- 4
- 5An extinct big cat with very long, curved upper teeth.
Like a lion from long ago, but with teeth as long as kitchen knives.
The museum has the skull of a saber-toothed tiger.
The saber-toothed tiger died out thousands of years ago.
UsageSay saber-toothed tiger.
Similarsabertooth
Note
- 6A fast-running beetle that hunts and eats other small insects.
- 7A moth with brightly patterned wings, often striped or spotted.
Like a butterfly that flies at night, with bold stripes on its wings.
A fat, fuzzy tiger moth landed on our window last night.
The garden tiger is a moth with bright orange back wings and dark spots.
Note
Less common meanings
- 8A leopard, the large spotted cat of Africa and Asia, in older or regional speech.
My grandfather in South Africa called every leopard a tiger.
Up in the Cape mountains, the old farmers still call a leopard a tiger.
Similarleopard
Note
- 9A jaguar, the big spotted cat of the Americas.
Similar is the test among the Moxos of Peru. One of their totems is the tiger; and a candidate for the rank of medicine-man must prove his kinship to the tiger by being bitten by that animal and surviving the bite.
1887, James George Frazer, TotemismHere, tiger means a jaguar, the big spotted cat of the Americas.Note
- 10A servant in a smart uniform who rode along with his master or mistress.
We arranged that I should come here alone in the London coach; and that he, leaving his tiger and cab behind him, should come on , and arrive here as soon as possible this afternoon
1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day LifeHere, tiger means a servant in uniform who rode along with his master.Note
- 11A butterfly related to the monarch, with bold striped wings that recall the big cat's markings.
- 12The last word shouted at the end of a cheer, with a jump or open arms.
. . . every blue coat in the audience sprang to his feet, with three times three and a tiger.
1941, Margaret Leech, Reveille in WashingtonHere, tiger means the last word shouted at the end of a cheer. - 13A black-and-yellow striped dragonfly found in Australia.
- 14A made-up cat-like creature shown on a family or country shield.
- 15A box or pan worked by air pressure, used to make refined sugar.
Practice
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Origin
It came from Latin tigris, which came from Greek tígris, borrowed from an Iranian word. The root idea may have meant something sharp or pointed, like an arrow.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- English tiger ultimately comes through Latin tigris. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin tigris comes from Greek tígris. en.wiktionary.org
- Greek tígris was borrowed from an Iranian language. en.wiktionary.org
- The word may ultimately refer to sharpness or pointedness, with an arrow as a proposed comparison. en.wikipedia.org