Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various anuran amphibians especially of the family Bufonidae, characteristically being more terrestrial and having drier, rougher skin and shorter legs than the smooth-skinned frogs.
  • noun A horned lizard.
  • noun A person regarded as repulsive.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A batrachian or amphibian of the family Bufonidæ or some related family.
  • noun Figuratively, a person as an object of disgust or aversion: also used in deprecating or half-affectionate raillery. Compare toadling.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of batrachians belonging to the genus Bufo and allied genera, especially those of the family Bufonidæ. Toads are generally terrestrial in their habits except during the breeding season, when they seek the water. Most of the species burrow beneath the earth in the daytime and come forth to feed on insects at night. Most toads have a rough, warty skin in which are glands that secrete an acrid fluid.
  • noun (Zoöl.) See under Obstetrical.
  • noun (Zoöl.) See Pita.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a horned toad.
  • noun (Bot.) a hollow-stemmed plant (Equisetum limosum) growing in muddy places.
  • noun (Bot.) a low-growing kind of rush (Juncus bufonius).
  • noun (Zoöl.), [Prov. Eng.] the reed bunting.
  • noun (Zoöl.) See Cuckoo spit, under Cuckoo.
  • noun (Zoöl.) See under Tree.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun this sense)An amphibian similar to a frog with bigger back legs and more ragged skin.
  • noun A very unpleasant man.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of various tailless stout-bodied amphibians with long hind limbs for leaping; semiaquatic and terrestrial species

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English tadde, tode, from Old English tādige.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • Also, a car being pulled by a camper or recreational vehicle for use away from the RV. Toads are a common sight in Alaska in the summer...

    March 10, 2008

  • Who so late

    at the garden gate?

    Emily, Kate, and John.

    'John,

    what have you got?

    'A whopping toad.

    Isn't he big?

    He's a terrible

    Load.

    (We found him

    A little ways

    Up the road,'

    said Emily, Kate, and John.)

    - David McCord, 'At The Garden Gate'.

    November 8, 2008

  • TOAD: The past tense of tell. “Ah toad you never to do that.”

    July 2, 2012

  • Car-dealer term for a worthless trade-in vehicle that's only fit to be sold for scrap.

    September 8, 2018