tiger
nounnouncommon in dialogue
- Canada//ˈtaɪɡɚ//
- Australia//ˈtɑɪɡə//
- New Zealand//ˈtaɪɡə//
- /[ˈtʌɪɡɚ]/
Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia. A male tiger; as opposed to a tigress.
Coordinate term: tigress
- 3
Other animals that resemble true tigers in appearance, pattern, colouration, etc. A sabre-toothed tiger (any felid in the subfamily †Machairodontinae).
- 4
Other animals that resemble true tigers in appearance, pattern, colouration, etc. 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.
- 5
obsoleteOther animals that resemble true tigers in appearance, pattern, colouration, etc. 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.
- 6
Other animals that resemble true tigers in appearance, pattern, colouration, etc. Certain insects: A tiger moth in the family Arctiidae.
- 7
Other animals that resemble true tigers in appearance, pattern, colouration, etc. Certain insects: A tiger beetle.
- 8
Other animals that resemble true tigers in appearance, pattern, colouration, etc. Certain insects: Any of the three Australian species of black-and-yellow striped dragonflies of the genus Ictinogomphus.
- 9
Other animals that resemble true tigers in appearance, pattern, colouration, etc. Certain insects: A tiger butterfly in the tribe Danaini, especially subtribe Danaina.
- 10
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.
- 11
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.
- 12
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.
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.
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.
- 13
obsoleteA 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 afternoon
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.
- 14
slangA 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.
- 15
figurativeA 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.
- 16
A pneumatic box or pan used in refining sugar.
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 𐬙𐬌𐬔𐬭𐬌 (tigri, “arrow”), 𐬙𐬌𐬖𐬭𐬀 (tiγra, “pointed”)). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). Compare English stick.
noun
- 1
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, which were given with a will, followed by the usual tiger and ' rocket.'
. . . every blue coat in the audience sprang to his feet, with three times three and a tiger.
One Brooklyn military company has a “tiger” composed of a provincial expression borrowed from the farmers. When drawled out by a hundred throats the phrase "I-wanter-know!" always produces a laugh.
Etymology
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.
Forms
- plural
- tigers
tiger · Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
Tiger · The third of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the…Tigers · The Bangladesh national cricket team.tight · Firmly held together; compact; not loose or open.