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
Red miso soup adds comfort, then there’s a buttery miso pudding and castella tamago, a sponge cake made from just three ingredients — tiger prawn, egg and Japanese mountain yam.
—John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 24 Dec. 2025
This stepper, seen on celebrities from Bella Hadid to Ella Emhoff, has officially gotten the star treatment, not to mention a tiger print that will encourage its wearers to go bold or go home come 2026.
—Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 23 Dec. 2025
Three seats to your left, for instance, is a tiger.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
Some animal welfare experts have raised concerns about the quality of Shalom's animal enclosures and its breeding of a white tiger, which is opposed by conservation organizations like the World Wildlife Fund.
—Quinn Clark, jsonline.com, 11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
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John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 24 Dec. 2025
This stepper, seen on celebrities from Bella Hadid to Ella Emhoff, has officially gotten the star treatment, not to mention a tiger print that will encourage its wearers to go bold or go home come 2026.
—Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 23 Dec. 2025
Three seats to your left, for instance, is a tiger.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
Some animal welfare experts have raised concerns about the quality of Shalom's animal enclosures and its breeding of a white tiger, which is opposed by conservation organizations like the World Wildlife Fund.
—Quinn Clark, jsonline.com, 11 Dec. 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 28 Dec. 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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