Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To heat and brown (bread, for example) by placing in a toaster or an oven or close to a fire.
  • intransitive verb To warm thoroughly, as before a fire.
  • intransitive verb To become toasted.
  • noun Sliced bread heated and browned.
  • noun Slang One that is doomed, in trouble, or unworthy of further consideration.
  • noun The act of raising a glass and drinking in honor of or to the health of a person or thing.
  • noun A proposal to drink to someone or something or a speech given before the taking of such a drink.
  • noun The one honored by a toast.
  • noun A person receiving much attention or acclaim.
  • intransitive verb To drink to the health or honor of.
  • intransitive verb To propose or drink a toast.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Bread in slices superficially browned by the fire; a slice of bread so browned.
  • To drink as a toast; drink to the health of; wish success or prosperity to in drinking; also, to designate as the person or subject to whom or to which other persons are requested to drink; propose the health of.
  • To drink a toast or toasts; also, to propose a toast or toasts.
  • To brown by the heat of a fire: as, to toast bread or bacon.
  • To warm thoroughly: as, to toast one's feet.
  • To brown with heat.
  • To warm one's self thoroughly at a fire.
  • noun A person whose health is drunk, or who is named as the person to whom others are requested to drink; especially, a woman who is the reigning belle of the season, or in some other way is specially indicated as a person often toasted; also, anything, as a political cause, the memory of a person, etc., to which a company is requested to drink.
  • noun A call on another or others to drink to the health of some person named, or to the prosperity of some cause, etc,: often accompanied by a sentiment or motto; also, the act of thus drinking.
  • noun One who drinks to excess; a soaker.

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

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • noun Hence, any person, especially a person of distinction, in honor of whom a health is drunk; hence, also, anything so commemorated; a sentiment, as “The land we live in,” “The day we celebrate,” etc.
  • noun a small rack or stand for a table, having partitions for holding slices of dry toast.
  • transitive verb To dry and brown by the heat of a fire.
  • transitive verb To warm thoroughly.
  • transitive verb To name when a health is proposed to be drunk; to drink to the health, or in honor, of.

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

  • noun Toasted bread.
  • noun A proposed salutation (e.g. to say "cheers") while drinking alcohol.
  • noun A person, group, or notable object to which a salutation with alcohol is made; a person or group held in similar esteem.
  • noun slang Something that will be no more; something subject to impending destruction, harm or injury.
  • noun slang, Jamaica Extemporaneous narrative poem or rap.
  • noun computing A transient, pop-up informational window
  • verb To lightly cook by browning via direct exposure to a fire or other heat source.
  • verb To grill, lightly cook by browning specifically under a grill or in a toaster
  • verb To engage in a salutation and/or accompanying raising of glasses while drinking alcohol in honor of someone or something.
  • verb slang, Jamaica To perform extemporaneous narrative poem or rap.

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

  • noun a drink in honor of or to the health of a person or event
  • verb propose a toast to
  • noun slices of bread that have been toasted
  • noun a person in desperate straits; someone doomed
  • noun a celebrity who receives much acclaim and attention
  • verb make brown and crisp by heating

Etymologies

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

[Middle English tosten, from Old French toster, from Vulgar Latin *tostāre, frequentative of Latin torrēre, to parch, burn; see ters- in Indo-European roots.]

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

[Perhaps from toast (from the use of spiced toast to flavor drinks).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French toster (to roast, to grill), from Latin tostus (grilled, burnt, from verb torrere (to burn, to grill)).

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Examples

Comments

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  • the noun, not the verb.

    May 10, 2007

  • Contronymic as noted by rolig on dead meat v toast v history.

    November 25, 2008

  • vehicle for transporting jam or cinnamon into my belly

    September 19, 2009

  • krakatoast

    December 17, 2010