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
Its open, hilly terrain has one of the highest densities of tigers on the subcontinent.
—Marion Miller, Travel + Leisure, 10 Oct. 2025
Britton will play David Neal, a USDA investigator who was assigned to look into the nearly fatal tiger attack on Roy Horn.
—Joe Otterson, Variety, 10 Oct. 2025
This is the most entertaining, unifying thing since tiger king!
—Deputy News Editor, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
In another room, a loom with a rug bearing a traditional Tibetan tiger motif was juxtaposed with the Yore bag, as the big cat’s teeth inspired the cuts on the design, worn by new friend of the house Isabelle Huppert.
—Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Marion Miller, Travel + Leisure, 10 Oct. 2025
Britton will play David Neal, a USDA investigator who was assigned to look into the nearly fatal tiger attack on Roy Horn.
—Joe Otterson, Variety, 10 Oct. 2025
This is the most entertaining, unifying thing since tiger king!
—Deputy News Editor, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
In another room, a loom with a rug bearing a traditional Tibetan tiger motif was juxtaposed with the Yore bag, as the big cat’s teeth inspired the cuts on the design, worn by new friend of the house Isabelle Huppert.
—Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 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 14 Oct. 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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