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餓虎 (がこ, gako) Japanese meaning: starving tiger | Kotomora

餓が虎こ

Meanings

1

starving tiger

Literally a tiger that is starving; often used metaphorically to describe someone fierce or desperate, like a hungry predator.

餓が虎このように獲え物ものに飛とびかかった。
He pounced on his prey like a starving tiger.

Kanji

餓starve, hungry, thirst
虎tiger, drunkard

Etymology

Compound of 餓 (ga, 'starving') and 虎 (ko, 'tiger'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word is conventionally associated with the image of a fierce, hungry tiger.