toad-eater

  • 1toad-eater — toadˈ eater noun (archaic) A toady, a fawning sycophant, orig a mountebank s assistant, whose duty was to swallow, or pretend to swallow, toads • • • Main Entry: ↑toad …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 2toad — [OE] Toad is a mystery word, with no known relatives in any other Indo European language. Of its derivatives, toady [19] is short for the earlier toad eater ‘sycophant’ [17]. This originated in the dubious selling methods of itinerant quack… …

    The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • 3toad — [OE] Toad is a mystery word, with no known relatives in any other Indo European language. Of its derivatives, toady [19] is short for the earlier toad eater ‘sycophant’ [17]. This originated in the dubious selling methods of itinerant quack… …

    Word origins

  • 4toad — n. 1 any froglike amphibian of the family Bufonidae, esp. of the genus Bufo, breeding in water but living chiefly on land. 2 any of various similar amphibians including the Surinam toad. 3 a repulsive or detestable person. Phrases and idioms:… …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 5toady — toad•y [[t]ˈtoʊ di[/t]] n. pl. toad•ies, 1) an obsequious flatterer; sycophant 2) to be a toady • Etymology: 1820–30; toad (eater) + y II toad′y•ish, adj. toad′y•ism, n …

    From formal English to slang

  • 6Servility — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Servility >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 servility servility Sgm: N 1 slavery slavery &c.(subjection) 749 Sgm: N 1 obsequiousness obsequiousness &c. >Adj. Sgm: N 1 subserviency subserviency Sgm: N 1 abasement …

    English dictionary for students

  • 7toady — (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 …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 8John Borthwick Gilchrist — (June 1759 1841) was a noted British Indologist.Gilchrist was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to merchant Walter Gilchrist, who disappeared the year he was born. After graduation from George Heriot s Hospital, a school for orphans, he obtained… …

    Wikipedia

  • 9toadeater — /tohd ee teuhr/, n. a toady. [1565 75; TOAD + EATER] * * * …

    Universalium

  • 10Гилкрист, Джон Бортвик — Джон Бортвик Гилкрист John Borthwick Gilchrist Дата рождения: дд.6.1759 Место рождения: Эдинбург, Шотландия Дата смерти: 9 января 1841(1841 01 09) …

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