View synonyms for tarantula

tarantula

[ tuh-ran-chuh-luh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural ta·ran·tu·las, ta·ran·tu·lae [t, uh, -, ran, -ch, uh, -lee].

any of several large, hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae, as Aphonopelma chalcodes, of the southwestern U.S., having a painful but not highly venomous bite.
any of various related spiders.
a large wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula, of southern Europe, having a bite once thought to be the cause of tarantism.

tarantula

/ təˈræntjʊlə /

any of various large hairy mostly tropical spiders of the American family Theraphosidae
a large hairy spider, Lycosa tarentula of S Europe, the bite of which was formerly thought to cause tarantism

1555–65; < Medieval Latin < Italian tarantola. See Taranto, -ule

C16: from Medieval Latin, from Old Italian tarantola, from Taranto

The tarantula, like many other members of the spider family, is an expert in the making of burrows.

The Tarantula is in her own house, with all its conveniences; every nook and corner of the bastion is familiar to her.

The natives of the island hold the old tradition of the ancients, that one bitten by a tarantula will dance himself to death.

Have you ever seen, by-the-bye, that extraordinary Highland tarantula called the reel of Tullich?

The tarantula spider is a relation of the six-footed farmers, you should know, although he is not an insect himself.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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