8 results for: Toady

(Browse Nearby Entries)

toadshade

toadstone

toadstones

toadstool

toadstools

toady

toadying

toadyish

toadyism

TOAFK

TOAH

TOAI

TOAK

TOAMAC

TOAN

toandfro

toandfros

TOAO

TOAOT

TOAS

TOASE

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

toad·y

Audio Help [toh-dee] Pronunciation Key noun, plural toad·ies, verb, toad·ied, toad·y·ing.

–noun

1.	an obsequious flatterer; sycophant.

–verb (used with object)

2.	to be the toady to.

–verb (used without object)

3.	to be a toady.

[Origin: 1680–90; toad + -y²

]

—Related forms

toad·y·ish, adjective

toad·y·ism, noun

—Synonyms 1. fawner, yes man, parasite, apple polisher.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Toady

To learn more about Toady visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

toad·y Audio Help   (tō'dē) Pronunciation Key
n.   pl. toad·ies
A person who flatters or defers to others for self-serving reasons; a sycophant.

tr. & intr.v.   toad·ied, toad·y·ing, toad·ies
To be a toady to or behave like a toady. See Synonyms at fawn¹.

[From toad.]

Word History: The earliest recorded sense (around 1690) of toady is "a little or young toad," but this has nothing to do with the modern usage of the word. The modern sense has rather to do with the practice of certain quacks or charlatans who claimed that they could draw out poisons. Toads were thought to be poisonous, so these charlatans would have an attendant eat or pretend to eat a toad and then claim to extract the poison from the attendant. Since eating a toad is an unpleasant job, these attendants came to epitomize the type of person who would do anything for a superior, and toadeater (first recorded 1629) became the name for a flattering, fawning parasite. Toadeater and the verb derived from it, toadeat, influenced the sense of the noun and verb toad and the noun toady, so that both nouns could mean "sycophant" and the verb toady could mean "to act like a toady to someone."

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
toady (n.)

"servile parasite," 1826, apparently shortened from toad-eater "fawning flatterer" (1742), originally referring to the assistant of a charlatan, who ate a toad (believed to be poisonous) to enable his master to display his skill in expelling the poison (1629). The verb is recorded from 1827.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

toady
noun
1.	a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage [syn: sycophant]
verb
1.	try to gain favor by cringing or flattering; "He is always kowtowing to his boss" [syn: fawn]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Toady

Toad"eat`er\, n. [Said to be so called in allusion to an old alleged practice among mountebanks' boys of eating toads (popularly supposed to be poisonous), in order that their masters might have an opportunity of pretending to effect a cure. The French equivalent expression is un avaleur de couleuvres. Cf. Toady.] A fawning, obsequious parasite; a mean sycophant; a flatterer; a toady. --V. Knox.

You had nearly imposed upon me, but you have lost your labor. You're too zealous a toadeater, and betray yourself. --Dickens.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Toady

Toad"y\, n.; pl. Toadies. [Shortened from toadeater.]

1. A mean flatterer; a toadeater; a sycophant.

Before I had been standing at the window five minutes, they somehow conveyed to me that they were all toadies and humbugs. --Dickens.

2. A coarse, rustic woman. [R.] --Sir W. Scott.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Toady

Toad"y\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Toadied; p. pr. & vb. n. Toadying.] To fawn upon with mean sycophancy.

View results from: Dictionary | Thesaurus | Encyclopedia | All Reference | the Web