Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Tiger

Ti′ger

,
Noun.
[OE.
tigre
, F.
tigre
, L.
tigris
, Gr.
τίγρις
; probably of Persian origin; cf. Zend
tighra
pointed,
tighri
an arrow, Per.
tīr
; perhaps akin to E.
stick
, v. t.; – probably so named from its quickness.]
1.
A very large and powerful carnivore (
Felis tigris
) native of Southern Asia and the East Indies. Its back and sides are tawny or rufous yellow, transversely striped with black, the tail is ringed with black, the throat and belly are nearly white. When full grown, it equals or exceeds the lion in size and strength. Called also
royal tiger
, and
Bengal tiger
.
2.
Fig.: A ferocious, bloodthirsty person.
As for heinous
tiger
, Tamora.
Shakespeare
3.
A servant in livery, who rides with his master or mistress.
Dickens.
4.
A kind of growl or screech, after cheering;
as, three cheers and a
tiger
.
[Colloq. U. S.]
5.
A pneumatic box or pan used in refining sugar.
American tiger
.
(Zool.)
(a)
The puma.
(b)
The jaguar.
–
Clouded tiger
(Zool.)
,
a handsome striped and spotted carnivore (
Felis macrocelis
or
Felis marmorata
) native of the
East Indies
and
Southern Asia
. Its body is about three and a half feet long, and its tail about three feet long. Its ground color is brownish gray, and the dark markings are irregular stripes, spots, and rings, but there are always two dark bands on the face, one extending back from the eye, and one from the angle of the mouth. Called also
tortoise-shell tiger
.
–
Mexican tiger
(Zool.)
,
the jaguar.
–
Tiger beetle
(Zool.)
,
any one of numerous species of active carnivorous beetles of the family
Cicindelidae
. They usually inhabit dry or sandy places, and fly rapidly.
–
Tiger bittern
.
(Zool.)
See
Sun bittern
, under
Sun
.
–
Tiger cat
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of wild cats of moderate size with dark transverse bars or stripes somewhat resembling those of the tiger.
–
Tiger flower
(Bot.)
,
an iridaceous plant of the genus
Tigridia
(as
Tigridia conchiflora
,
Tigridia grandiflora
, etc.) having showy flowers, spotted or streaked somewhat like the skin of a tiger.
–
Tiger grass
(Bot.)
,
a low East Indian fan palm (
Chamaerops Ritchieana
). It is used in many ways by the natives.
J. Smith (Dict. Econ. Plants).
–
Tiger lily
.
(Bot.)
See under
Lily
.
–
Tiger moth
(Zool.)
,
any one of numerous species of moths of the family
Arctiadae
which are striped or barred with black and white or with other conspicuous colors. The larvae are called
woolly bears
.
–
Tiger shark
(Zool.)
,
a voracious shark (
Galeocerdo tigrinus
syn.
Galeocerdo maculatus
) more or less barred or spotted with yellow. It is found in both the
Atlantic
and
Indian Ocean
. Called also
zebra shark
.
–
Tiger shell
(Zool.)
,
a large and conspicuously spotted cowrie (
Cypraea tigris
); – so called from its fancied resemblance to a tiger in color and markings. Called also
tiger cowrie
.
–
Tiger snake
(Zool.)
,
either of two very venomous snakes of Tasmania and Australia,
Notechis scutatis
and
Notechis ater
, which grow up to 5 feet in length.
–
Tiger wolf
(Zool.)
,
the spotted hyena (
Hyaena crocuta
).
–
Tiger wood
,
the variegated heartwood of a tree (
Machaerium Schomburgkii
) found in Guiana.

Webster 1828 Edition

Tiger

TI'GER

,
Noun.
[L. tigris.] A fierce and rapacious animal of the genus Felis, one of the largest and most terrible of the genus, inhabiting Africa and Asia. The American tiger is the Felis onca. There is also the tiger cat or Felis capensis.

Definition 2024

Tiger

Tiger

See also: tiger

English

Proper noun

Tiger

  1. The third of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
  2. A town in Georgia
  3. An unincorporated community in Washington

Noun

Tiger ‎(plural Tigers)

  1. (soccer) someone connected with Hull City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.

Anagrams

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtiːɡɐ/

Noun

Tiger m ‎(genitive Tigers, plural Tiger)

  1. tiger

Declension

Derived terms

tiger

tiger

See also: Tiger

English

A tiger.

Alternative forms

Noun

tiger ‎(plural tigers, feminine tigress)

  1. Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
    1. A male tiger.
  2. (obsolete) A servant in livery, who rides with his master or mistress.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Charles Dickens to this entry?)
    • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. XVII, The Beginnings
      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.
  3. (South Africa, dated but still used) A leopard.
    • 1907, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, Jock of the Bushveld, Longmans 1976 ed., ISBN 0582161231, page 251:
      Jim remarked irrelevantly that tigers were 'schelms' and it was his conviction that there were a great many in the kloofs round about.
  4. (US, slang) A person who is very athletic during sexual intercourse.
    • 2010, Jeff Wilser, The Maxims of Manhood
      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.
  5. (figuratively) A ferocious, bloodthirsty and audacious person.
    • William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus
      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.
  6. (US, colloquial) A kind of growl or screech, after cheering.
    three cheers and a tiger
  7. A pneumatic box or pan used in refining sugar.
  8. A tiger moth.
  9. A relatively small country or group of countries with a fast-growing economy.
    • 2000, Jagdish Handa, Monetary Economics, Psychology Press (ISBN 9780415199254), page 709
      In this scenario, the growth rates are higher for the economic tigers than for the other economies.
    • 2009, Fabrizio Tassinari, Why Europe Fears Its Neighbors, ABC-CLIO (ISBN 9780313357725), page 21
      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.
    • 2014, Emmanuel Akyeampong, Robert H. Bates, Nathan Nunn, James Robinson, Africa's Development in Historical Perspective, Cambridge University Press (ISBN 9781107041158), page 287
      Once colonial or settler rule ended, such enterprises either lost the crutches of state support or became “white elephants,” draining resources from the wider economy. This was an important factor holding back the emergence of African tigers.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Hypernyms

Translations

Anagrams

Danish

Etymology

From German Tiger, from Latin tigris.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtiːər/, [ˈtˢiːɐ]
  • Homophone: tier

Noun

tiger c (singular definite tigeren, plural indefinite tigere or tigre)

  1. tiger

Inflection

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin tigris.

Noun

tiger m ‎(definite singular tigeren, indefinite plural tigere or tigre or tigrer, definite plural tigerne or tigrene)

  1. a tiger, Panthera tigris

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin tigris.

Noun

tiger m ‎(definite singular tigeren, indefinite plural tigrar, definite plural tigrane)

  1. a tiger, Panthera tigris

References

Old English

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin tigris.

Noun

tiger m ‎(nominative plural tigras)

  1. tiger

Declension

Derived terms

  • tigrisc

Descendants

  • Middle English: tigre, tygre
    • Scots: tigir, tygir
    • English: tiger

Slovene

Tiger

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek τίγρις ‎(tígris), from Iranian (compare Avestan 𐬌𐬭𐬔𐬌𐬙 ‎(tigri, “arrow”), 𐬀𐬭𐬖𐬌𐬙 ‎(tiγra, “pointed”)).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtìːɡər/
  • Tonal orthography: tígər

Noun

tíger m anim ‎(genitive tígra, nominative plural tígri, feminine tígrica)

  1. tiger

Declension

Derived terms

  • bálijski tíger
  • bengálski tíger
  • indonézijski tíger
  • javánski tíger
  • južnokitájski tíger
  • káspijski tíger, pêrzijski tíger
  • malézijski tíger
  • sibírski tíger
  • sumatránski tíger
  • trinílski tíger

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

tiger c

  1. tiger, an animal

Declension

Inflection of tiger 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative tiger tigern tigrar tigrarna
Genitive tigers tigerns tigrars tigrarnas

Verb

tiger

  1. present tense of tiga.

Etymology

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 𐬌𐬭𐬔𐬌𐬙 ‎(tigri, “arrow”), 𐬀𐬭𐬖𐬌𐬙 ‎(tiγra, “pointed”)). More at stick.

Pronunciation

Similar Results