Tiger
Pronunciation
- GenAm IPA: /ˈtaɪɡɚ/
- RP IPA: /ˈtaɪɡə/
- Rhymes: -aɪɡə(r)
Origin
From Middle English tygre, in part from Old English tigras (pl.), in part from Anglo-Norman tigre, both from Latin tigris, from Ancient Greek τίγÏις, from (compare Avestan (tigri, "arrow"), (tiγra, "pointed")). More at stick.
Full definition of tiger
Noun
tiger
(plural tigers)- Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
- A male tiger.
- A servant in livery, who rides with his master or mistress.
- 1843, Thomas_Carlyle, , book 2, ch. XVII, The BeginningsThe 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.
- (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.
- (US, slang) A person who is very athletic during sexual intercourse.
- 2010, Jeff Wilser, The Maxims of ManhoodDon't ... Tell your roommate that you heard the walls shaking all night, and it sounds like he's a real tiger in the sack.
- (figurative) A ferocious, bloodthirsty person.
- ShakespeareAs for heinous tiger, Tamora.
- (US, colloquial) A kind of growl or screech, after cheering.three cheers and a tiger
- A pneumatic box or pan used in refining sugar.