Meanings
noun
- idiomaticA pure gamble with highly divergent outcomes.
Origin
From the short story The Lady, or the Tiger by Frank R. Stockton, in which a condemned man is offered two doors, one of which leads to a beautiful woman and the other to a ferocious tiger.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
lady or tiger. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lady%20or%20tiger
MLA
“lady or tiger.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lady%20or%20tiger. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lady or tiger,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lady%20or%20tiger.
Source: lady or tiger on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.