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
Hyde likewise denies that the tiger was out of his control.
—Rene Ebersole, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2024
Experts say resurgent Russian ethnic nationalism is a tiger the Kremlin will probably manage to ride, at least for the foreseeable future.
—Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tiger 
Rene Ebersole, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2024
Experts say resurgent Russian ethnic nationalism is a tiger the Kremlin will probably manage to ride, at least for the foreseeable future.
—Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tiger
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tiger.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Tiger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tiger. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
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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