Dictionary

toad-eater en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of toadeater.
   alt of toadeater
   • This sort of toadies are arrant loafers, and are like the locusts of the scriptures, with this difference, that whereas clouds of locusts were necessary to do any serious damage a few or even one hungry toady has been known to fasten upon a man of limited means and devour his substance utterly, so as to reduce him to the same negative condition of prosperity as the toad-eater himself. 1853 April 23, “Concerning Toadies”, in Pen and Pencil, volume 1, number 17, page 532:
   • It is very hard that a pretty Woman is never to be told she is so by any one of her own Sex, without that person's being suspected to be either her determined Enemy, or her professed Toad-eater. 1793, Jane Austen, Lesley Castle:
   • Indeed, as to the dowager, she seems to have no greater joys than E.O. and a toad-eater can give her. 1873, John Doran, A Lady of the Last Century (Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu), page 53:
   • Wolff, my dear, is the toad-eater. In the old days every great man kept a toad-eater; sometimes his functions were highly paid— Wolff's are, I fancy. 1891, Charles James Wills, The Pit Town Coronet: A Family Mystery, page 70:

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