toad-eater

См. также в других словарях:

• toad-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

• toad — [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

• toad — [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

• toad — 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

• toady — 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

• Servility — (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

• 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 …   Etymology dictionary

• John 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

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

• Гилкрист, 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) …   Википедия

• toady — noun (plural toadies) 1》 a person who behaves obsequiously towards others. 2》 Australian term for pufferfish. verb (toadies, toadying, toadied) act obsequiously. Derivatives toadyish adjective toadyism no …   English new terms dictionary