/teuh ran"cheuh leuh/ , n. , pl. tarantulas, tarantulae /-lee'/ .
1. 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.
2. any of various related spiders.
3. a large wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula, of southern Europe, having a bite once thought to be the cause of tarantism.
[ 1555-65; tarantola. See TARANTO, -ULE ]