tiger

Etymology 1

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”)). More at stick.

noun

1. Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
   1. A male tiger; as opposed to a tigress.
      Coordinate term: tigress
2. (heraldry) 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
3. (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, page 251
4. 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, 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, page 21
   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. 2014, Emmanuel Akyeampong, Robert H. Bates, Nathan Nunn, James Robinson, Africa's Development in Historical Perspective, Cambridge University Press, page 287
5. (obsolete) A servant in livery, who rides with his master or mistress.
6. (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
7. (figurative) A ferocious, bloodthirsty and audacious person.
8. (US, colloquial) A kind of growl or screech, after cheering.
   three cheers and a tiger
9. A pneumatic box or pan used in refining sugar.
10. A tiger moth in the family Arctiidae.
11. A tiger beetle.
12. Any of the three Australian species of black-and-yellow striped dragonflies of the genus Ictinogomphus.
13. A tiger butterfly in tribe Danaini, especially subtribe Danaina

Etymology 2

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.

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.' 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
   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. 2008, D. C. Beard, The Outdoor Handy Book: For Playground, Field, and Forest, page 413