toast

Origin:
1350–1400; (v.) Middle English to(o)sten < Middle French toster < Vulgar Latin *tostāre, derivative of Latin tostus (< *torstos), past participle of torrēre to parch, roast, from a base *tors-, akin to Gothic thaursus, Old Norse thurr dry; (noun) late Middle English to(o)ste, derivative of the v.; see torrid, thirst

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

a salutation or a few words of congratulation, good wishes, appreciation, remembrance, etc., uttered immediately before drinking to a person, event, etc.

a person, event, sentiment, or the like, in honor of whom another or others raise their glasses in salutation and then drink.

an act or instance of thus drinking: They drank a toast to the queen.

a call on another or others to drink to some person or thing.

a person who is celebrated as with the spirited homage of a toast: She was the toast of five continents.

verb (used with object)

to drink to the health of or in honor of; propose a toast to or in honor of.

to propose as a toast.

verb (used without object)

to propose or drink a toast.

Origin:
1690–1700; figurative use of toast¹ (noun); the name of a lady so honored was said to give flavor to the drink comparable to that given by spiced toast

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

toast¹ (təʊst)

—n
1.	sliced bread browned by exposure to heat, usually under a grill, over a fire, or in a toaster
2.	informal be toast to face certain destruction or defeat

—vb
3.	(tr) to brown under a grill or over a fire: to toast cheese
4.	to warm or be warmed in a similar manner: to toast one's hands by the fire

[C14: from Old French toster, from Latin tōstus parched, baked from torrēre to dry with heat; see thirst, torrid]

toast² (təʊst)

—n
1.	a tribute or proposal of health, success, etc, given to a person or thing by a company of people and marked by raising glasses and drinking together
2.	a person or thing honoured by such a tribute or proposal
3.	(esp formerly) an attractive woman to whom such tributes are frequently made: she was the toast of the town

—vb
4.	to propose or drink a toast to (a person or thing)
5.	(intr) See also rap to add vocal effects to a prerecorded track: a disc-jockey technique

[C17 (in the sense: a lady to whom the company is asked to drink): from toast¹,from the idea that the name of the lady would flavour the drink like a piece of spiced toast]

'toaster²

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

toast

"to brown with heat," late 14c., from O.Fr. toster "to toast or grill" (12c.), from V.L. *tostare (cf. It. tostare, Sp. tostar), frequentative of L. torrere (pp. tostus) "to parch" (see terrain). The noun meaning "a toasted piece of bread" is attested from early 15c.; slang

meaning "a goner, person or thing already doomed or destroyed" is recorded by 1987, perhaps from notion of computer circuits being "fried," and with unconscious echoes of earlier fig. phrase to be had on toast (1886) "to be served up for eating." Toaster in the electrical appliance sense first recorded 1913. Toasty "warm and comfortable" is recorded from 1890.

toast

"a call to drink to someone's health," 1700 (but said by Steele, 1709, to date to the reign of Charles II), originally referring to the beautiful or popular woman whose health is proposed and drunk, from the use of spiced toast to flavor drink, the lady regarded as figuratively adding piquancy to the

wine in which her health was drunk. The verb meaning "to propose or drink a toast" also is first recorded 1700. This probably is the source of the Jamaican and U.S. black word meaning "extemporaneous narrative poem or rap" (1962).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

toast definition

n.
a drunkard. : The old toast stumbled in front of a car.
mod.
excellent. : This stuff is so toast!
mod.
burned; done for. : If you don't get here in twenty minutes, you're toast.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

toast definition

jargon
1. Any completely inoperable system or component, especially one that has just crashed and burned: "Uh, oh ... I think the serial board is toast."
2. To cause a system to crash accidentally, especially in a manner that requires manual rebooting. "Rick just toasted the firewall machine again."
Compare fried.
(1995-05-01)

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

toast

see warm as toast.