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tiger moth
noun
: any of a family (Arctiidae) of stout-bodied moths usually with broad striped or spotted wings
Examples of tiger moth in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And because tiger moths are toxic to bats, that left Gough with a hypothesis.
—Ari Daniel, NPR, 22 May 2024
Head to the Valley of the Butterflies, a gorgeous forest full of streams and trodden paths, where tiger moths mature in July and August.
—Sarah Souli, Travel + Leisure, 22 Jan. 2024
Himmelman says that woolly bears (those fuzzy black and brown caterpillars) and other tiger moth caterpillars spend winter in leaf debris.
—Tovah Martin, Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2023
The ladybug begins life as a spiky black crawler; the garden tiger moth starts out life as an extravagantly furred caterpillar.
—Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2023
If a predator does attack, the wood tiger moth may ooze liquids from two parts of its body.
—Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 29 Sep. 2017
That's how the expression would go if a wood tiger moth coined it, anyway.
—Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 29 Sep. 2017
The scientists still don't know how the wood tiger moth makes both of these fluids.
—Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 29 Sep. 2017
Some species of tiger moth, while making their dramatic maneuvers, also make clicking sounds that jam a bat's sonar.
—Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 11 June 2013
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tiger moth.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1816, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near tiger moth
Cite this Entry
“Tiger moth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tiger%20moth. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
Kids Definition
tiger moth
noun
: any of a family of stout-bodied moths usually with broad striped or spotted wings
More from Merriam-Webster on tiger moth
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about tiger moth
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