toast
UK /təʊst/ · US /toʊst/ noun, verb
Forms toasts toasting toasted tost
- noun (chiefly uncountable) Bread that has been toasted (cooked lightly by browning). “I ate a piece of toast for breakfast.”
- noun (countable) A proposed salutation (e.g. saying "cheers") while drinking alcohol. “At the reception, there were many toasts from the well-wishers.”
- noun (countable) A person, group, or notable object to which a salutation with alcohol is made; a person or group held in similar esteem. “He was the toast of high society.”
- noun (uncountable, slang, chiefly US) Something that is irreparably damaged or used up, especially when destroyed by heat or fire; something which has been burnt to a crisp or incinerated. “The metal frame survived the fire, but the plastic and rubber bits are toast.”
- noun (uncountable, slang, chiefly US) Something that will be no more; something subject to impending destruction, harm or injury. “to become/be toast”
- noun (countable, music, slang, Jamaica) A type of extemporaneous narrative poem or rap.
- noun (countable, slang, obsolete) An old toast ("a lively fellow who drinks excessively").
- noun (countable, computing, graphical user interface) A transient, informational pop-up overlay, less interactive than a snackbar.
- verb (transitive) To cook lightly by browning by means of direct exposure to a fire or other heat source. “We used to enjoy toasting marshmallows around the campfire.”
- verb (intransitive, specifically) To cook lightly by browning under a grill or in a toaster; to grill. “Top with cheese and toast under the grill for a few minutes.”
- verb (ambitransitive) To engage in a salutation, often with raising of the drinking vessel, while drinking an alcoholic beverage in honor of someone or something. “We toasted the happy couple many times over the course of the evening.”
- verb (transitive) To warm thoroughly. “I toasted my feet by the fire.”
- verb (music, slang, Jamaica) To perform an extemporaneous narrative poem or rap.
Synonyms
pledge dead duck dead meat goner crispen crisp drink salute wassail
Etymology
From Middle English tost, from the verb tosten (see below).
Etymology 1 sense 3 is according to the Oxford English Dictionary a figurative application of etymology 1 sense 1 dating to 1674. It began as an epithet for a lady being supposed to flavour a bumper like a spiced toast placed in that drink. (In this context, a bumper is a drinking vessel filled to the brim.)
From Middle English tosten, from Old French toster (“to roast, grill”), from Late Latin tostō, -āre, frequentative of torreō (“to burn, grill”) from its perfect passive participle tostus (“grilled, burnt”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To dry and brown by the heat of a fire; as, to toast bread.
- verb To warm thoroughly; as, to toast the feet.
- noun Bread dried and browned before a fire, usually in slices; also, a kind of food prepared by putting slices of toasted bread into milk, gravy, etc. toaster.
- noun A lady in honor of whom persons or a company are invited to drink; --so called because toasts were formerly put into the liquor, as a great delicacy.
Etymology [OF. toster to roast, toast, fr. L. torrere, tostum, to parch, roast. See Torrid.]
Etymology [OF. toste, or tostée, toasted bread. See Toast, v.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “toast”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details