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
For another Aspen outing, Carey leaned on a different Gucci design, choosing a tall black leather boot with a rounded toe and block heel, paired with black velvet GG-logo pants and a tiger-print fur coat.
—Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 31 Dec. 2025
Wander through the stalls of the Central Market—one of the largest in Europe—and be sure to sample Valencian horchata, a sweet, milky beverage made of tiger nuts.
—Siobhan Reid, Travel + Leisure, 29 Dec. 2025
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
Three seats to your left, for instance, is a tiger.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
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Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 31 Dec. 2025
Wander through the stalls of the Central Market—one of the largest in Europe—and be sure to sample Valencian horchata, a sweet, milky beverage made of tiger nuts.
—Siobhan Reid, Travel + Leisure, 29 Dec. 2025
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
Three seats to your left, for instance, is a tiger.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 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 6 Jan. 2026.
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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