From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tarantula \Ta*ran"tu*la\, noun; pl. E. {Tarantulas}, L. {Tarantul[ae]}. [NL., fr. It. tarantola, fr. L. Tarentum, now Taranto, in the south of Italy.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of large spiders, popularly supposed to be very venomous, especially the European species ({Tarantula apuli[ae]}). The tarantulas of Texas and adjacent countries are large species of Mygale. [Written also {tarentula}.]
{Tarantula killer}, a very large wasp ({Pompilus formosus}), which captures the Texan tarantula ({Mygale Hentzii}) and places it in its nest as food for its young, after paralyzing it by a sting.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: large southern European spider once thought to be the cause of tarantism (uncontrollable bodily movement) [syn: {European wolf spider}, {Lycosa tarentula}]
2: large hairy tropical spider that can inflict painful but not highly venomous bites [also: {tarantulae} (pl)]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
22 Moby Thesaurus words for "tarantula": arachnid, arthropod, beetle, bug, caterpillar, centipede, chilopod, daddy longlegs, diplopod, fly, harvestman, hexapod, insect, larva, maggot, millepede, millipede, mite, nymph, scorpion, spider, tick
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