tarantulas

Noun

tarantula (plural tarantulas or tarantulae)

1. Any of the large, hairy New World spiders comprising the family Theraphosidae.
   • Cockroaches, centipedes, tarantulas, scorpions, and mosquitoes are abundant in summer. [...] Tarantulas and scorpions are little noticed by those who have been there any length of time.1857, John Askew, chapter II, in A Voyage to Australia & New Zealand, including a Visit to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Hunter’s River, Newcastle, Maitland, and Auckland; […], London: Simpkin...

   Synonyms:

   bird spider, monkey spider, rain spider

2. (broadly) A member of certain other groups of spiders, generally characterized by large size, hairiness, or membership of infraorder Mygalomorphae to which Theraphosidae family also belongs.
   • The small funnel-web tarantulas are sedentary but notable for their aggressiveness and the strong action of their venom on human beings. A. robustus and formidabilis have caused human deaths.1971, Wolfgang Bücherl, “Spiders”, in Wolfgang Bücherl, Eleanor E[vans] Buckley, editors, Venomous Animals and Their Venoms, volume III (Venomous Invertebrates), New York, N.Y.; London: Academic...
3. (dated) A species of wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula, native to southern Europe, the mildly poisonous bite of which was once thought to cause an extreme urge to dance (tarantism).
   • [I]t is better to be pained with the ſting of a Snake, and recouer, then be tickled with the venime of Tarantula and dye laughing: [...]1588, R[obert] Greene, “The Third Nights Exercise”, in Perimedes the Blacke Smith, a Golden Methode, how to Vse the Minde in Pleasant and Profitable Exercise: […], London: Printed by Iohn VVolfe, for...