tarantula
Americannoun
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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.
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any of various related spiders.
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a large wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula, of southern Europe, having a bite once thought to be the cause of tarantism.
noun
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any of various large hairy mostly tropical spiders of the American family Theraphosidae
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a large hairy spider, Lycosa tarentula of S Europe, the bite of which was formerly thought to cause tarantism
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tarantula
1555–65; < Medieval Latin < Italian tarantola. See Taranto, -ule
Compare meaning
How does tarantula compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A tarantula is a hairy, poisonous, black spider. Although they are furry and some people keep them as pets, you probably don't want to cuddle up to one. Tarantulas are found primarily in subtropical South America. Their leg spans can range from three to twelve inches, which means that a very big tarantula is about as wide as a cowboy hat! While their bites are poisonous, you won't die from tarantula venom, unless the bite gets infected.
Vocabulary lists containing tarantula
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There were questions over whether he was allowed to keep the tarantula in the Houses of Parliament.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Cronus was roughly 11 years old when he died, which is around the average life span of a male tarantula, according to experts at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
“My color man took all the press notes, wadded them up and hit the tarantula like swinging a bat.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2026
Researchers have identified four previously unknown tarantula species in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, and they turned out to be far more unusual than expected.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 6, 2026
Abina crawled after her tarantula, cursing and fussing.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
I’m a Texan, so I’ve been around tarantulas my whole life, I knew what it was.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
In particular, he said he saw spiders like tarantulas “as a newer pet trend in the United States.”
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 11, 2026
That included live snakes, tarantulas and lovebirds found hidden in vehicles stopped at the UK border.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025
Trapdoor spiders are small, secretive relatives of tarantulas.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2025
I stood in front of him and asked, “When did the tarantulas disappear?”
From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
