tiger

UK/ˈtaɪɡə//ˈtaɪɡɚ/

tiger noun: panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.

Image: Hollingsworth, John and Karen, retouched by Zwoenitzer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

tiger (plural tigers)

Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
- For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing from the foreſt nye.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 14, page 311
1. A male tiger; as opposed to a tigress.
  - Coordinate term: tigress
(inexact) A sabre-toothed tiger (any felid in the subfamily †Machairodontinae).
(inexact) A Tasmanian tiger, †Thylacinus cynocephalus
- What you mean is that no scientist has captured one and been able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it exists, which is probably very good news for the tiger.2010, Barry Jonsberg, Blacky Blasts Back: On the Tail of the Tassie Tiger, Crows Nest, N.S.W: Allen & Unwin, page 43
(obsolete) A jaguar.
- Similar is the test among the Moxos of Peru. One of their totems is the tiger; and a candidate for the rank of medicine-man must prove his kinship to the tiger by being bitten by that animal and surviving the bite.1887, James George Frazer, Totemism, page 20
A tiger moth in the family Arctiidae.
A tiger beetle.
Any of the three Australian species of black-and-yellow striped dragonflies of the genus Ictinogomphus.
A tiger butterfly in the tribe Danaini, especially subtribe Danaina.
A representation of a large mythological cat, used on a coat of arms.
- The heraldic tiger is a mythical beast, quite unlike a real tiger which is described in heraldry as a Bengal tiger. The ordinary tiger has no stripes, has a horn protruding from its nose, has tusks like a boar and a tufted mane, and has a lion's tail instead of a tiger's.1968, Charles MacKinnon of Dunakin, The Observer's Book of Heraldry, page 69
(South Africa, dated but still used) A leopard.
- Jim remarked irrelevantly that tigers were 'schelms' and it was his conviction that there were a great many in the kloofs round about.1907, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, Jock of the Bushveld, Longmans, published 1976, →ISBN, page 251
A relatively small country or group of countries with a fast-growing economy.
- In this scenario, the growth rates are higher for the economic tigers than for the other economies.2000, Jagdish Handa, Monetary Economics, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 709
- Then came the 2008 credit turmoil and ensuing economic slump, which not only belittled the huge economic and social gains of the various Baltic and Celtic Tigers, as well as of several former communist nations of Central Europe.2009, Fabrizio Tassinari, Why Europe Fears Its Neighbors, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 21
(obsolete) A servant in livery, who rides with his master or mistress.
- We arranged that I should come here alone in the London coach; and that he, leaving his tiger and cab behind him, should come on , and arrive here as soon as possible this afternoon1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC
- The doom of Fate was, Be thou a Dandy! Have thy eye-glasses, opera-glasses, thy Long-Acre cabs with white-breeched tiger, thy yawning impassivities, pococurantisms; fix thyself in Dandyhood, undeliverable; it is thy doom.1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. XVII, The Beginnings”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk)

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(US, slang) A person who is very athletic during sexual intercourse.
- Don't […] Tell your roommate that you heard the walls shaking all night, and it sounds like he's a real tiger in the sack.2010, Jeff Wilser, The Maxims of Manhood
(figuratively) A ferocious, bloodthirsty and audacious person.
- As for that heinous tiger, Tamora,
  No funeral rite, nor man in mournful weeds,
  No mournful bell shall ring her burial;
  But throw her forth to beasts, and birds of prey.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
A pneumatic box or pan used in refining sugar.

Noun (2)

tiger (plural tigers)

A final shouted phrase, accompanied by a jump or outstretched arms, at the end of a cheer.
- He spoke with a very strong Scotch accent, and is by no means a graceful orator, but he produced througout a most favourable impression upon all his hearers, and especially upon the students, one of whom shouted as the speaker closed, 'Long Live PRESIDENT M'COSH!' and then proposed three cheers...1868, Punch: Or the London Charivari - Volume 55, page 231
- . . . every blue coat in the audience sprang to his feet, with three times three and a tiger.1941, Margaret Leech, Reveille in Washington

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Tiger

Tiger

The third of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
A town in Georgia.
An unincorporated community in Washington.
A popular given name for a pet.

Noun (3) capitalized: Tiger

Tiger (plural Tigers)

Someone connected with Hull City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: TIGER

TIGER

(abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing.

tiger meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

tiger in Hindi

The mammal Panthera tigris: बाघ bāgh, व्याघ्र vyāghra, नाहर nāhar, केहर kehar

tiger in Tamil

The mammal Panthera tigris: புலி puli

tiger in Marathi

The mammal Panthera tigris: वाघ vāgh

tiger in Urdu

The mammal Panthera tigris: شیر śer, باگھ bāgh, بَبَر babar

More languagesFewer languages

tiger in Bengali: বাঘ bagh
tiger in Telugu: పులి puli, వ్యాఘ్రము vyāghramu
tiger in Malayalam: കടുവ kaṭuva
tiger in Kannada: ಹುಲಿ huli
tiger in Punjabi: ਸ਼ੇਰ śer, ਬਾਘ bāgh, شیر pnb, باگھ bāgh
tiger in Gujarati: વાઘ vāgh
tiger in Odia: ବାଘ bāgha
tiger in Sanskrit: व्याघ्र vyāghra
tiger in Sinhala: කොටියා koṭiyā
tiger in Assamese: ঢেঁকীয়াপতীয়া বাঘ dhẽkiapotia bagh, বাঘ bagh
tiger in Nepali: बाघ bāgh
tiger in Pashto: پړانګ pṛāng
tiger in Tagalog: tigre
tiger in Arabic: نِمْر nimr, بَبْر babr, نمر nimr
tiger in Malay: harimau, macan, harimau belang, macan loreng
tiger in Indonesian: harimau
tiger in Persian: بَبْر babr
tiger in Thai: เสือ sʉ̌ʉa, เสือโคร่ง sʉ̌ʉa-krôong
tiger in Vietnamese: hổ, cọp, khái, kễnh
tiger in Myanmar: ကျား kya:
Sindhi: واگھُ vāghu
Dhivehi: މިނިކާވަގަ minikāvaga
Dzongkha: སྟག stag

Examples of tiger in a sentence

This was an important factor holding back the emergence of African tigers.2014, Emmanuel Akyeampong, Robert H. Bates, Nathan Nunn, James Robinson, Africa's Development in Historical Perspective, Cambridge...
One Brooklyn military company has a “tiger” composed of a provincial expression borrowed from the farmers.2008, D. C. Beard, The Outdoor Handy Book: For Playground, Field, and Forest, page 413:

All 40 example sentences with tiger

Forms of tiger

plural	tigers
plural	Tigers
alternative form (obsolete)	tigre
alternative form (dated)	tyger
alternative form (dated)	tygre

Plural of tiger: tigers

Origin of tiger

From Middle English tygre, in part from Old English tigras (pl.), in part from Anglo-Norman tigre, both from Latin tigris, from Ancient Greek τίγρις (tígris), from Iranian (compare Avestan 𐬙𐬌𐬔𐬭𐬌 (tigri, “arrow”), 𐬙𐬌𐬖𐬭𐬀 (tiγra, “pointed”)). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). Compare English stick.

From the mascot of Princeton (a tiger), which led to early cheerleaders calling out "Tiger" at the end of a cheer for the Princeton team.

Words formed from tiger

Phrases with tiger

102 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with tiger

liger

Questions about tiger

What does tiger mean?: Tiger means panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
What is tiger in Hindi?: Tiger in Hindi is बाघ (bāgh), व्याघ्र (vyāghra), नाहर (nāhar). See Tiger meaning in Hindi.
How do you use tiger in a sentence?: This was an important factor holding back the emergence of African tigers.
What part of speech is tiger?: Tiger can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce tiger?: Tiger is pronounced /ˈtaɪɡə/ (UK).
What is the plural of tiger?: The plural of tiger is tigers.

Words near tiger in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: tiger (page history and authors); Tiger (page history and authors); TIGER (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-tiger.ogg.

Cite this entry: “tiger.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tiger. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.