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toast

 - 9 dictionary results

toast

1[tohst] ,
–noun
1. sliced bread that has been browned by dry heat.
–verb (used with object)
2. to brown, as bread or cheese, by exposure to heat.
3. to heat or warm thoroughly at a fire: She toasted her feet at the fireplace.
–verb (used without object)
4. to become toasted.
5. be toast, Slang. to be doomed, ruined, or in trouble: If you're late to work again, you're toast!

Origin:
1350–1400; (v.) ME to(o)sten < MF toster < VL *tostāre, deriv. of L tostus (< *torstos), ptp. of torrēre to parch, roast, from a base *tors-, akin to Goth thaursus, ON thurr dry; (n.) late ME to(o)ste, deriv. of the v.; see torrid, thirst

toast

2[tohst] ,
–noun
1. a salutation or a few words of congratulation, good wishes, appreciation, remembrance, etc., uttered immediately before drinking to a person, event, etc.
2. a person, event, sentiment, or the like, in honor of whom another or others raise their glasses in salutation and then drink.
3. an act or instance of thus drinking: They drank a toast to the queen.
4. a call on another or others to drink to some person or thing.
5. a person who is celebrated as with the spirited homage of a toast: She was the toast of five continents.
–verb (used with object)
6. to drink to the health of or in honor of; propose a toast to or in honor of.
7. to propose as a toast.
–verb (used without object)
8. to propose or drink a toast.

Origin:
1690–1700; fig. use of toast 1 (n.); 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. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To toast
toast 1   (tōst)   
v.   toast·ed, toast·ing, toasts

v.   tr.
  1. To heat and brown (bread, for example) by placing in a toaster or an oven or close to a fire.

  2. To warm thoroughly, as before a fire: toast one's feet.

v.   intr.
To become toasted: This bread toasts well.
n.  
  1. Sliced bread heated and browned.

  2. Slang One that is doomed, in trouble, or unworthy of further consideration.


[Middle English tosten, from Old French toster, from Vulgar Latin *tostāre, frequentative of Latin torrēre, to parch, burn; see ters- in Indo-European roots.]
toast 2   (tōst)   
n.  
    1. The act of raising a glass and drinking in honor of or to the health of a person or thing.

    2. A proposal to drink to someone or something or a speech given before the taking of such a drink.

    3. The one honored by a toast.

  1. A person receiving much attention or acclaim: the toast of Broadway.

v.   toast·ed, toast·ing, toasts

v.   tr.
To drink to the health or honor of.
v.   intr.
To propose or drink a toast.

[Perhaps from toast1 (from the use of spiced toast to flavor drinks).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
toast

  1. n.
    a drunkard. : The old toast stumbled in front of a car.
  2. mod.
    excellent. : This stuff is so toast!
  3. 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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Word Origin & History

toast  (v.)
"to brown with heat," 1398, 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 c.1430; 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  (n.)
"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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

toast 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)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

toast

see warm as toast.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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