▪ I. toad, n.
(təʊd)
Forms: α. 1 tádiᵹe, tádie. β. 1–5 tadde, (pl. 1 -an, 2–4 en, 3–7 -es). γ. ? 3, 4–6 north. tade, 5– Sc. taid, 9 north. dial. teäde, tead, ted, tyed. δ. 4–7 tode, 5–6 toode, 6 tood, 6–7 toade, 7– toad.
[OE. tádiᵹe, of unknown origin and unusual form, has no cognates in the other langs. (Da. and Norw. tudse are not connected.) The relation of tadde to tádiᵹe, tádie is not clear: Björkman thinks it a hypocoristic form with shortened vowel and doubled cons.; it survived in s.w. ME. tadde; cf. also tadpipe (see 7 b), tadpole. The northern tade, taid, teäde, ted and midl. tôde, tood, toad, with long vowel and single cons., prob. represented tádiᵹe, tádie, with its unusual ending reduced to -e.]
1. a. A tailless amphibian of the genus Bufo; primarily the common European species Bufo vulgaris; thence extended to many foreign species of the genus or of the family Bufonidæ. running toad, the natterjack.
| α c 1000 ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 122/11 Buffo, tadiᵹe. a 1100 Voc. ibid. 321/23 Rubeta, tadie. |
| β 11.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 544/7 (Ru)beta, tadde. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 51 Þer wunieð in-ne..Blake tadden. Ibid. 53 Ah liggeð þer uppon, alse þe tadde deð in þere eorðe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 214 Schal ine helle iwurðen to him tadden & neddren. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 18 A womman þat hadde a fende wiþ inne her..caste up tweȝ blake taddes. 1398 ― Barth. De P.R. xvi. lxxi. (Tollen MS.), This stone is take oute of a tadde heed. |
| γ a 1300 Cursor M. 23227 Fell dragons and tades [v.r. tadis] bath. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xc. 13 Þe snake werpis and þe tade nuryssis þe eg, and þarof is broght forth þe basilyske. c 1440 York Myst. xi. 271 For tadys and frosshis we may not flitte. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 240 He drew oute a grete whik tade. c 1480 Henryson Test. Cres. 578 Heir I beteiche my Corps and Carioun With Wormis and with Taidis to be rent. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 287 Tigris, serpentis, and taidis will remane In Dumbar wallis. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. ii. ii, Mixt wi' the venom of black taids and snakes. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xxxv, A taid may sit on her coffin the day. 1823 Galt Entail II. xxix. 277 Ye would as soon think of likening a yird tead to a patrick. 1863 Robson Bards Tyne 353 Now, Geordy, my lad, sit as mute as a tyed. |
| δ 12.. St. Patrick's Purg. 274 in Horstm. Alteng. Leg. (1875) 188 Eddren furi vpen hem sete, and toden grete al so. c 1325 Song Mercy 56 in E.E.P. (1862) 120 Þou seȝe me a monge todes blake Ful longe in harde prisoun lyng. 1370–80 XI Pains of Hell 60 in O.E. Misc. 224 As Fissches þei were in þat flod þo, Todus, Neddres, Snakes mony mo. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 152 Thay hym yaue pryuely a lytill toode in a drynke. 1530 Palsgr. 281/2 Tode, crapault. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 16 Nesorpora is a stone of Pontus..found in a Todes heade. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 116 Findyng there a most venemous toade. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. i. 13 Sweet are the vses of aduersitie, Which like the toad, ougly and venemous, Weares yet a precious Iewell in his head. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 800 Him there they found Squat like a Toad, close at the eare of Eve. 1763 Churchill Proph. Famine Poems I. 112 Marking her noisome road With poison's trail, here crawled the bloated Toad. 1849 T. Bell Brit. Reptiles (ed. 2) 115 Few animals have ever suffered more undeserved persecution as the victims of an absurd and ignorant prejudice than the toad. Ibid. 126 Natter-jack Toad. 1895 Running Toad [see running ppl. a. 7 c]. 1909 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 503/2 She was already on friendly terms with my mice and my toads and my snake. |
b. As a type of anything hateful or loathsome.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 231 To whom the Frenche nacion was more odious then a tode. 1586 Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 125 It behoueth also that..he doe incline to good..that he abhorre flatterie as a Toad. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 170, I do hate a proud man, as I hate the ingendring of Toades. 1645 Milton Colast. Wks. 1851 IV. 360 To hate one another like a toad or poison. |
c. In various figurative and proverbial uses.
to eat (any one's) toads, to be a mean dependant, to toady (see
toad-eater).
toad under a harrow, a simile for a person under constant persecution or oppression.
| 1649 Bp. Reynolds Serm. Hosea i. 46 [As] impossible..as for a Toad to spit Cordials. 1788 Ld. Bulkeley in Dk. Buckhm. Crt. & Cabinets Geo. III (1853) I. 364 There is no man who eats Pitt's toads with such zeal, attention, and appetite. 1815 Hist. J. Decastro, etc. I. 252 [We] were e'en forced to eat our toads and be silent. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes liii, Don't they follow him to college: and eat his toads through life? 1802–12 Bentham Rat. of Evidence (1827) I. 385 note, Kept like toads under a harrow. 1825 Brockett N.C. Words, Toad-under-a-Harrow, the comparative situation of a poor fellow, whose wife, not satisfied with the mere hen-pecking of her helpmate, takes care that all the world shall witness the indignities she puts upon him. 1903 Daily Chron. 16 May 3/4 The ‘toad-under-the-harrow’ existence of a plain, middle-aged, but cultivated and fine-natured spinster, whose whole life was subordinated to an invalid and rather malignant old mother. |
2. † Used erroneously for the frog (
obs.); applied to other allied animals, as
Surinam toad = pipa;
horned toad: see
horned 2 b;
midwife toad,
obstetrical toad, the nurse-frog: see
obstetrical.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter lxxvii. 50 [lxxviii. 45] And sent in am hundeflegh, and it ete þa; Tade [L. ranam], and it for-spilt þam swa. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iii. iii, Now croakes the toad. 1757–1894 [see pipa]. 1812–29 Surinam toad [see toadling]. 1815 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1843) I. 305 Like the young of the Surinam Toad (Rana pipa) they attach themselves in clusters upon her back, belly, head, and even legs. 1817 Surinam toad [see toadlet]. 1901 P. Fountain Deserts N. Amer. viii. 158 The ‘Californian toad’ which is really a species of lizard. |
3. a. Applied opprobriously to human beings and animals.
| a 1568 Bannatyne Poems (Hunter. Cl.) 396/36 Ane fowle taid cairle. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 81 To helpe me curse That bottel'd Spider, that foule bunch-back'd Toad. 1605 1st Pt. Ieronimo ii. v, Ier. Is not this a monstrous courtier? Hor. He is the court tode, father. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 159 All true Persians thinke of them as enemies to Mahomet..and that all their Disciples were Toades, the of-scum of the earth & vile Apostates. 1744 in Ozel Brantome's Span. Rhodomontades (ed. 2) Advert., A cursed Toad of a Horse..not only threw me but rolled over me. 1771 Foote Maid of B. iii. Wks. 1799 II. 232 What a miserable poor toad is a husband, whose misfortunes not even death can relieve! 1853 R. Carmichael in Whistlebinkie Ser. iii. 47 Sic a pridefu' taid Our Tibbie's grown. 1894 Sir J. D. Astley 50 Years Life II. 87 The silly toad had carelessly forgotten to pull the stirrup-irons up. |
b. Applied to children.
Cf. tad 2.
| 1836 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 1st Ser. xxvii. 178 Two little orphan children, the prettiest little toads I ever beheld. 1897 Private Life of Queen xi. 93 Jonathan Mace..had been a day labourer at Frogmore... He always spoke of the Queen's spirited sons as ‘rare young toads’. 1954 M. Sharp Gipsy in Parlour iv. xxiv. 234 Why shouldn't 'ee wed the poor toad? 1958 ‘Miss Read’ Storm in Village iii. 38 If our Billy has the nightmares, I shan't wonder! Poor little toad, and him so high strung! 1981 V. Canning Boy on Platform One vii. 108 I'll show you. Never seen a salmon! You poor little toad. |
4. = toady n. 2.
| 1831 [see toad v.]. 1834 Beckford Italy, etc. II. 159 Mrs. Guildermeester..we found in a vast but dingy saloon, her toads squatting around her. Ibid., Donna Genuefa, the toad-passive in waiting..Miss Coster, the toad-active,..makes tea with decorum. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 191 One who makes up to a teacher is recognized as being in a slightly different category from an outright sneak, although almost as nauseous. The usual epithets are ‘toad’ or ‘toady’, ‘worms’, ‘crawler’, or, in Camberwell, ‘grease boy’ or ‘grease rat’. |
† 5. Alch. = bufo.
Obs.| 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. i. xx. in Ashm. Theat. Chem. Brit. (1652) 134 Our Tode of the Erth whych etyth hys fyll. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. iii, Your toade, your crow, your dragon, and your panthar. |
6. a. Cookery.
toad in the († a) hole: meat, now
usu. sausages, baked in batter.
| 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Pudding-Pye-Doll, the dish called toad-in-a-hole, meat boiled in a crust. Norf. 1797 F. Burney Lett. Dec., Mrs. Siddons and Sadler's Wells..seems..as illfitted as the dish they call a toad in a hole,..putting a noble sirloin of beef into a poor paltry batter-pudding. 1836 A. Fonblanque Eng. under Seven Admin. (1837) III. 314 ‘Toad-in-a-hole’, a piece of meat baked in a pudding, with a pool of gravy round it. 1883 F. B. Harrison Little Pretty iv, I give you hashes, and toad-in-the-hole, and curry, and use up all the odds and ends. 1927 [see schooner n.1 1 b]. 1934 Cassell's Mod. Practical Cookery 145/1 Put in the sausages. Season the batter,..and pour it over them. Put the toad-in-the-hole into a good, moderately hot oven. 1934 T. S. Eliot Rock i. 40 Restaurants where you can get..sausage and mashed or toad-in-the-'ole for twopence. 1943 L. Chatterton Mod. Cookery 167/1 Toad in the hole without eggs... Milk,..flour,..bicarbonate of soda,..vinegar,..salt,..sausages,..dripping... Small sausages are best.., or..steak cut in two-inch pieces may be used. 1959 B. Nilson Penguin Cookery Bk. 330 Toad-in-the-hole is made like Yorkshire pudding, but 1lb. skinned sausages is heated in the fat for 5 minutes before adding the batter. 1971 Guardian 18 June 11/6 Although ‘toad-in-the-hole’ is an unprepossessing name it must be one of the few dishes which sounds even worse in French. I am sure no one would eat ‘Le crapaud au trou’. |
b. toad in the hole: a name applied to various games,
esp. a form of hide-and-seek and a game in which lead discs are thrown at holes in a wooden structure.
| 1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel 381 They got tired playing toad in the hole in the deep weeds. 1969 I. & P. Opie Children's Games iv. 154 When played after dark, as is not unusual, it [sc. Hide-and-Seek] may have a special name, such as..‘Toad in the Hole’ (Forfar). 1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 229 Toad-in-the-hole..probably originated in England in Tudor times. Since then, it has been played in many parts of the world, including Argentina, where it is known as Sapo. 1970 Daily Tel. 18 Mar. 15/6 Mr. P. N. Barnard's letter..about the ‘charity game’ known as toad in the hole..has provided me with a translation into English of this very old game which used to be played a great deal in France, where it is known as tonneau. 1975 Country Life 11 Dec. 1677/4, I am..looking for examples of the following regional inn sports:..twister (Suffolk), and toad in the hole (Sussex)... Every one of the games I have mentioned is actually played in English pubs today. |
7. attrib. and
Comb.: attributive, as
toad-hole,
toad-poison,
toad-pond,
toad-spawn,
toad-venom; objective, similative, etc., as
toad-bellied,
toad-blind,
toad-green,
toad-housing,
toad-legged,
toad-shaped,
toad-spotted,
toad-swollen adjs.,
toad-like adj. and
adv.,
toadwise adv.| 1633 Ford 'Tis Pity iv. iii, You *toad-bellied bitch! 1922 Joyce Ulysses 465 Beside him stands Father Coffey, chaplain, toadbellied, wrynecked. |
| 1850 Kelly tr. Cambrensis Eversus II. 217 Giraldus, who was *toad blind (talpâ cæcior) to everything creditable to the Irish. |
| 1890 Daily News 27 Sept. 2/1 A *toad-green cloth redingote. |
| 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 108 Never seed a wood-chuck in a *toad-hole I guess? |
| 1598 E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 41 How *toad-housing sculs, and old swart bones, Are grac'd with painted toombs, and plated stones. |
| 1843 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IV. i. 190 The fact of wheat being broken down near the root, or ‘*toade-legged’. |
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 126 A *tode-like retirednesse, and closenesse of minde. 1812 Religionism 43 Then lay thy awkward, toad-like twists aside. 1839 Bailey Festus xxxiv. (1852) 550 My purpose..hath grown in me and lived on, Toad-like within a rock—vital where all Beside was death. |
| 1869 Zoologist Sept. 1832 The ignorant of all ages have believed in the existence of this *toad-poison, the men of science have almost universally treated its existence as a fable. |
| 1851 Borrow Lavengro iv. (1911) 30 The sludge in the *toad-pond. |
| 1854 Badham Halieut. 507 These last acquired such celebrity in the knowledge of wheedling, as to be called parasite, or *toad-spawn. |
| 1605 Shakes. Lear v. iii. 138 A most *Toad-spotted Traitor. 1915 W. Owen Let. Apr. (1967) 331 It's Measles!... Bloody eyes—toad-spotted, raw-meat-coloured skin. |
| 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 82 So *toade-swolne with pride and ambition, that he is ready to burst in sunder. |
| 1852 Zoologist X. 3658 The active principle of *toad-venom is alkaline in its character. |
| 1867 Lanier Strange Jokes 17 Give lair and rest To him who *toadwise sits and croaks. |
b. Special comb.:
toad-back a., of a stair-rail, etc., having a section of three-lobed shape held to resemble the back of a toad;
toad-bit, a disease of cattle: see
quot.;
toad-bug, any species of the American genus
Galgulus of small predaceous Hemiptera;
toad-cheese (also
toad's cheese,
† taddechese), a poisonous fungus;
toad-flower, an African plant,
Stapelia bufonia;
toad-frog, (
a) a book-name for the genus
Pelobates of tailless amphibians: see
quot.; (
b)
U.S. dial. = sense 1 a;
toad-grass = toad-rush;
toad-head, the American golden plover (
local U.S.);
toad-lily, (
a)
Fritillaria pyrenaica; (
b) the American white water-lily (
local U.S.); (
c) the Japanese
Tricyrtis hirta;
toad-lizard, (
a) the horned toad (
Cent. Dict. 1891); (
b) the labyrinthodon;
toad-marl, a dark-coloured variety of marl;
toad-orchis, a tropical West African orchid,
Megaclinium Bufo, having purple-spotted flowers;
toad-pipe (
† tadpipe), any one of various species of
Equisetum;
† toad-pool, a mass of corrupt poisonous matter;
toad-rock = toadstone2;
toad-rush,
Juncus bufonius;
† toad's bread, a fungus;
toad's cap, a toadstool;
toad's eye, a precious stone; ?
= crapaud 2;
toad's eye tin, a variety of cassiterite;
† toad's-guts, a term of abuse;
† toad's hat, a toadstool;
† toadskin N. Amer. slang. (
obs.), (
a) a five-cent stamp; (
b) a banknote;
toad's meat,
dial., toadstools;
toad's mouth, the snapdragon,
Antirrhinum majus;
toad-snatcher, the reed-bunting;
toad-spit,
-spittle = cuckoo-spit2 1;
toad-stabber slang (chiefly
U.S.), a large pocket-knife or jack-knife;
toad-sticker U.S. slang, a large knife; formerly also, a sword;
toad-strangler U.S. dial., a heavy downpour of rain. See also
toad-eater, etc.
| 1825 Brockett N.C. Words, *Toad-bit, a disease among cattle..imputed to the poison of toads. |
| 1902 L. O. Howard Insect Book 281 The *Toad Bugs..[These] odd and ugly little insects..have been appropriately termed the ‘toad-shaped bugs’. The short, broad body,..the projecting eyes,..the dull mottled colors, are toad-like. |
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 585/21 Fungea..i. boletus..a *taddechese. Ibid. 618/4 Tubera, taddechese. 1703 J. Whiting in C. Marshal Sion's Trav. (1704) b viij b, Several of which persecuting Justices soon after dyed with Eating of Tadcheese (alias Mushrooms). 1853 J. Lousley Let. 9 Jan. in N. & Q. (1962) Mar. 84/1 Toads cheeses are the poisenous Fungusses which grow in our hedgerows and woods. 1882 Science Gossip 165/1 ‘Toad's cheeses’, rank fungi. |
| 1884 Miller Plant-n. 137/2 African *Toad-flower. |
| 1861 Harper's Mag. Aug. 421/1 Every body is a pitching into this matter like *toad-frogs into a willow swamp. 1896 Lydekker New Nat. Hist. V. 283 The fifth family..comprises eight genera, which may be collectively termed toad-frogs, since they come neither under the designation of toads or frogs. 1913 H. Kephart Our Southern Highlanders xiii. 295 In the Smokies a toad is called a frog or a toad-frog. 1964 J. H. Clarke Harlem 276 She just stood..swellin' up like a big toad frog. 1981 Amer. Speech LVI. 45 Toad-frog is Southern and Midland. |
| 1640 Parkinson Theat. Bot. 1190 The Flemmings generally call [it] Padde grasse, that is, *Tode grasse. |
| 1884 Miller Plant-n. 137/2 *Toad-lily, Fritillaria nigra. Japanese Toad-lily, Tricyrtis hirta. |
| 1899 Edin. Rev. Apr. 317 The Labyrinthodon, or monster *toad-lizard. |
| 1764 Museum Rust. II. cx. 377 Called *toad marle, from its resemblance in colour to that animal. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. lxviii. 101 The small [horsetail] is called..in English smal Shauegrasse, and of some *Tadpipes. |
| 1607 Chapman Bussy d'Ambois iii. ii. 452 Thy gall Turns all thy blood to poison, which is cause Of that *toad-pool that..makes thee..rot as thou livest. |
| 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 348 [Juncus] bufonius..*Toad Rush. Wet Gravelly or sandy meadows and pastures. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 297 Toad Rush..sometimes called Toad-grass. |
| 1624 T. Scott Lawfulnesse Netherl. Warre 17 Therefore Philip gaue him fungos, or *Toads-bread to eate. |
| a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, *Toad's-cap, a fungus. |
| 1747 Dingley in Phil. Trans. XLIV. 505 The *Toad's-Eye, black. 1850 Ansted Elem. Geol., Min., etc. §490 Toad's eye tin is the same variety [as wood tin] on a small scale. 1874 J. H. Collins Metal Mining 13 [In] Cornwall..valuable lumps of ‘wood-tin’ and ‘toad's-eye’ tin have been built into hedges. |
| 1634 S. R. Noble Soldier iv. ii. in Bullen O.P. (1882) I. 317 *Toads-guts,..doe you heare, Monsire? |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 495/2 *Todyshatte (or muscheron),..tuber. |
| 1867 F. H. Ludlow Little Brother 251 ‘Why, ma, don't you know what a *toadskin is?’ said Billy, drawing a dingy five-cent stamp from his pocket. ‘Here's one... And don't I wish I had lots of 'em!’ 1912 J. Sandilands Western Canad. Dict. & Phrase-Bk., Toadskin, a dollar bill. Originally, in the States, a toadskin meant a five-cent stamp, and of a mean, grasping person it was said ‘His purse is made of toad's skin.’ 1926 Toadskin [see iron-man 1 c]. |
| 1886 P. Robinson Valley Teet. Trees 134 The rustic calls [toadstools] ‘*toad's meat’. |
| 1839 Phillips in Sat. Mag. 18 May 190/1 It has..received various names, as Dog's Mouth,..*Toad's Mouth, and Snap-Dragon. |
| 1848 Zoologist VI. 2290 The black-headed bunting..a ‘*toad-snatcher’. 1885 Swainson Provinc. Names Birds 72 Reed Bunting..Toad snatcher. |
| 1751 Warburton Pope's Wks. IV. 24 note, Those frothy excretions, called by the people *Toad spits, seen in summer-time hanging upon plants. |
| 1658 J. Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 909 [Nature] hath infected the Sage with *Toad-spittle. |
| 1885 G. Sweetman Gloss. Wincanton, *Toad-stabber,..a bad knife. 1915 S. Lewis Trail of Hawk x. 102 Carl..pried open a class-room window with his large jack-knife..known as a ‘toad-stabber’. 1938 W. Smitter F.O.B. Detroit 48 ‘There you are,’ said Russ, snapping the blade open. ‘A regular toad-stabber of a thing.’ |
| 1858 Calif. Spirit of Times 7 Aug. 1/8 The Judge put his *toad sticker atween his teeth, tuk a pistol in won hand, and a slung shot in the other, an sez thru his nose, ‘cum on’. 1944 J. S. Pennell Hist. Rome Hanks 293, I must have picked up this old toadsticker. |
| 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xix. 228 Hit's a *toad-strangler of a rain. 1980 Knoxvill (Tennessee) News-Sentinel 6 Apr. c4/5 ‘We say toad-strangler for a hard rain around here,’ Farley said. |
▪ II. toad, v. (
təʊd)
[f. prec., after toad-eat, etc.] trans. To act as a toady to; to toady. Also
intr.| 1802 G. Colman Poor Gent. ii. ii, How these tabbies love to be toaded! 1826 F. Reynolds Life & T. II. 303 note, He could scarcely ever get anybody but dull toading tuft⁓hunters to remain there above four days. 1831 Lady Granville Lett. 21 Feb., All her toads toad on because they see that I toad her too. 1849 W. Irving Goldsmith xxxix. 335 Boswell's inveterate disposition to toad, was a sore cause of mortification to his father. |
▪ III. toad var. tode n.1 Obs., Dutch fishing-boat.