<p><strong>Noun:</strong></p><ul><li>Any of several large, hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae, as <em>Aphonopelma chalcodes</em>, of the southwestern U.S., having a painful but not highly venomous bite.</li><li>Any of various related spiders.</li><li>A large wolf spider, <em>Lycosa tarantula</em>, of southern Europe, having a bite once thought to be the cause of tarantism.</li></ul>