From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtarantulata‧ran‧tu‧la /təˈræntjələ $ -tʃələ/ noun [countable] 
HBIa large poisonous spider from Southern Europe and tropical America
HBIa large poisonous spider from Southern Europe and tropical AmericaExamples from the Corpus
tarantula• I thought it must be a tarantula at least with all the fuss you're making.• Barry had told them at school that his Dad had bought him a tarantula.• Timidity is a tarantula upon the academy.• I bolt across the sheets legs first like a tarantula on the run.• He once did a show on an Amazonian tarantula that occasionally eats birds.• Do you own a pet tarantula or sing in a barbershop quartet?• I made love to her under the tarantula.• The Cotswold Wild Life Park is home to many exotic species of animals ranging from big cats to tarantulas.Origin tarantula (1500-1600) Medieval Latin Old Italian tarantola, from Taranto city in southern Italy, where such spiders are found 