DCHP-1 Online
painter dial. var. of panther 
n. a large, wild cat, Felis concolor, once common but now confined to southwestern Canada.
See also: cougar
- 1796 (1911) An American said he guessed it was the painters (so they call panthers). . . .
- 1844 . . . he laughed and told them that painters were a species of panther, not spotted, but tawny-coloured, and at times very dangerous.
- 1962 In every-day language the species is known as cougar, puma, painter, panther, mountain lion, catamount and simply lion.
- 1796 (1911) An American said he guessed it was the painters (so they call panthers). . . .