saber-toothed tiger

noun

1. any of several extinct members of the cat family Felidae from the Oligocene to Pleistocene Epochs, having greatly elongated, saberlike upper canine teeth.

Word History and Origins

Origin of saber-toothed tiger¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Other natural history items up for auction on Thursday include a complete T-rex rooted tooth, which sold for just over $100,000, a Triceratops skull, which sold for $661,500, and a saber-toothed tiger skull.

From BBC

Possibly this was a sensible adaptation for our hunter-gatherer forebears; if there’s a saber-toothed tiger standing in front of you, almost anything you might try is potentially more useful than patiently waiting to become lunch.

From Washington Post

He’d planted saber-toothed tiger teeth by mistake, and raised a batch of skeleton kittens from the soil.

From Literature

When the curator mentioned a huge saber-toothed tiger skull stored behind the scenes of the National Museum of Natural History in Montevideo, Uruguay, Aldo Manzuetti had to see for himself.

From New York Times

Feeling socially isolated, though, triggers a fight-or-flight response, just as it would have in our ancestors, for whom being alone could mean being a saber-toothed tiger’s lunch.

From Washington Post