How to Spell tarantula

tarantula - noun

• Any of the large, hairy New World spiders comprising the family Theraphosidae.

• (by extension) A member of certain other groups of spiders, generally characterized by large size, hairiness, or membership of infraorder Mygalomorphae to which Theraphosidae family also belongs.

• A species of wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula, native to southern Europe, the mildly poisonous bite of which was once thought to cause an extreme urge to dance (tarantism).