common toad en · NOUN
Meanings
-
A toad of species Bufo bufo, principally of Europe.
Before the swallow, before the daffodil, and not much later than the snowdrop, the common toad salutes the coming of spring after his own fashion, which is to emerge from a hole in the ground, where he has lain buried since the previous autumn, and crawl as rapidly as possible towards the nearest suitable patch of water.
1946 April 12, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “[“I Write as I Please”] Some Thoughts on the Common Toad”, in Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays, London: Secker and Warburg, published 1950, →OCLC, page 202:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| common toads | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (6)
nl gewone pad (Bufo bufo) · de Erdkröte (Bufo bufo) · fr crapaud commun (Bufo bufo) · ast sapu européu (Bufo bufo) · fr crapaud vulgaire (Bufo bufo) · pl ropucha szara (Bufo bufo)