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
Water draining out of the floodplains draws millions of minnows and other small fry into the main channel, where masses of lurking catfish run to the edges to feed, while tiger fish wait in deeper water for their turn to strike.
—Alex Postman, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Apr. 2024
Many have happened serendipitously in captivity, such as the liger, the massive offspring of a male lion and female tiger.
—Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2024
Colossal has made headlines pursuing the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo.
—Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2024
Guests can order food and drinks — everything from tiger prawn Thai salad and carbonara pasta to Champagne and inventive mocktails.
—Susmita Baral, Travel + Leisure, 29 Mar. 2024
Photographer has some of that traditional NatGeo style, but instead of tigers or marsupials the camera is trained on the photographers themselves.
—Anna Goldwater Alexander, WIRED, 18 Mar. 2024
Hiding alongside the roaring lions and tigers at the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak are more than 40 pokestops and various gyms to host competitions with friends.
—Detroit Free Press, 1 Mar. 2024
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
Water draining out of the floodplains draws millions of minnows and other small fry into the main channel, where masses of lurking catfish run to the edges to feed, while tiger fish wait in deeper water for their turn to strike.
—Alex Postman, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Apr. 2024
Many have happened serendipitously in captivity, such as the liger, the massive offspring of a male lion and female tiger.
—Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2024
Colossal has made headlines pursuing the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo.
—Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2024
Guests can order food and drinks — everything from tiger prawn Thai salad and carbonara pasta to Champagne and inventive mocktails.
—Susmita Baral, Travel + Leisure, 29 Mar. 2024
Photographer has some of that traditional NatGeo style, but instead of tigers or marsupials the camera is trained on the photographers themselves.
—Anna Goldwater Alexander, WIRED, 18 Mar. 2024
Hiding alongside the roaring lions and tigers at the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak are more than 40 pokestops and various gyms to host competitions with friends.
—Detroit Free Press, 1 Mar. 2024
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.
Dictionary Entries Near tiger
Cite this Entry
“Tiger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tiger. Accessed 1 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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