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
By the 1870s, all lands within the Shengjing imperial hunting reserves—which for two hundred years had protected tigers, their prey, and their habitat—were dotted with human settlements, the skies above them gray from brushfires as forests were converted to fields or cleared for homes.
—Literary Hub, 14 Nov. 2025
Photographing Cows, elephants and tigers.
—Lex Goldstein, PEOPLE, 9 Nov. 2025
Planetary scientists know that heat flows out from the south pole, where the fractures, known as tiger stripes, that produce the plumes are located.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 7 Nov. 2025
Confined in an artificial space, a tiger feels suppressed, unwell.
—Dan Rubinstein, Outside, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
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Literary Hub, 14 Nov. 2025
Photographing Cows, elephants and tigers.
—Lex Goldstein, PEOPLE, 9 Nov. 2025
Planetary scientists know that heat flows out from the south pole, where the fractures, known as tiger stripes, that produce the plumes are located.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 7 Nov. 2025
Confined in an artificial space, a tiger feels suppressed, unwell.
—Dan Rubinstein, Outside, 5 Nov. 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 15 Nov. 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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