toast

1 of 3

noun

ˈtōst How to pronounce toast (audio)
plural toasts
Synonyms of toastnext
1
a
: sliced bread browned on both sides by heat
eggs and toast
buttered toast
b
: food prepared with toasted bread
avocado toast
cheese toast
… foie gras with tangy rhubarb, sweet strawberry and an accent of thyme was served with peanut butter toast.—John Mariani
2
a
: an act of proposing a drink in honor of or of drinking in honor of someone or something
He proposed a toast to the newlyweds.
She stood up to make a toast.
… you must remember not to drain your glass on each toast.—Oretha D. Swartz
b
: someone that is highly admired
She's the toast of society.
He was the toast of the town.
c(1)
archaic : a person who is honored with a drink and wishes for good health or prosperity
The remaining toasts were DOCTOR MELL; Mrs. MICAWBER (who gracefully bowed her acknowledgements from the side-door …), Mrs. RIDGER BEGS (late Miss Micawber) …—Charles Dickens
(2)
: something in honor of which people usually drink : a sentiment that is drunk to
She was famed as the most beautiful girl in the country. Men of the army, men of the navy, and men of the Church, alike adored her. Her name was a toast from Monterey to San Diego.—Helen Hunt Jackson
As Peter and the two remaining ladies raise their champagne glasses, Madison offers the toast: "Here's to seeing if love can conquer all."—wbal.com
3
slang : someone or something that is finished or done for
Soon their relationship was toast.—Rick Reilly
The Deep Space 2 probes are also aiming for a smooth, clear piece of Martian real estate. "If we hit a really big rock, we're toast," said Suzanne Smrekar, project scientist for Deep Space 2.—Alexandra Witze
4
: an improvisational rhyming narrative poem or song of African American tradition that employs clever, ironic, bawdy, and irreverent language to salute or celebrate someone

toast

2 of 3

verb (1)

toasted; toasting; toasts

transitive verb

1
: to make (food, such as bread) crisp, hot, and brown by heat
2
: to warm thoroughly

intransitive verb

: to become toasted
especially : to warm thoroughly

toast

3 of 3

verb (2)

toasted; toasting; toasts

transitive verb

: to propose or drink to as a toast

Synonyms

Verb (1)

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 

Examples of toast in a Sentence

Noun I had toast for breakfast. He made a toast to the bride and groom. Everyone drank a toast to the bride and groom.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The new Apollo, which opened in late February, still offers a small menu of seasonal lunch dishes, such as a citrusy green salad named for Bille Brahe’s wife — the model and fashion designer Caroline Brasch Nielsen, 30 — and a briny anchovy toast made with homemade bread. —Gisela Williams, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2024 Place raw slices over toast covered with mashed avocado or hummus. —Cynthia Sass, Mph, Health, 13 Apr. 2024 The chicken chain — known for its fingers, crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast and signature sauce — signed a lease at the Natomas Fountains, 3801 Gateway Park Blvd., property management company Ethan Concord Properties Inc. announced last week. —Jacqueline Pinedo, Sacramento Bee, 9 Apr. 2024 This step is similar to soaking bread in egg batter for French toast. —Liv Dansky, Southern Living, 8 Apr. 2024 At this point, smashed avocado on toast is on every menu across the globe. —Sina Petri, Vogue, 5 Apr. 2024 But the menu does lack vegetarian and vegan options, besides pizza, pancakes and French toast. —Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Mar. 2024 The event offers marrying couples cake, a non-alcoholic toast and music — for free. —Luis Giraldo, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2024 Here’s a toast to a fabulous run of Witchland in New York City. —Leslie Kelly, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'toast.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English toste, toost, noun derivative of tosten "to toast entry 2"; (sense 2) noun derivative of toast entry 3

Note: The word toast in the sense "a person who is honored with a drink and wishes for good health or prosperity," with the accompanying verb "to propose or drink to (a person) as a toast," first appears in print at the very end of the seventeenth century. The conventional assumption is that the use is metaphorical, "the name of a lady being supposed to flavour a bumper like a spiced toast in the drink," as it is expressed in the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition. This is pure speculation, however, as the origin of the sense remains obscure. Two oft-quoted explanations appear in Richard steele's journal The Tatler, which appeared between April, 1709 and January, 1711. The first is in No. 24 (June 4, 1709), probably written by Joseph addison: "To know what a toast is in the country gives as much perplexity as she herself does in town: and indeed the learned differ very much upon the original of this word, and the acceptation of it among the moderns. … But many of the wits of the last age will assert that the word, in its present sense, was known among them in their youth, and had its rise from an accident in the town of Bath, in the reign of King Charles the Second. It happen'd, that on a publick day a celebrated beauty of those times was in the Cross Bath, and one of the croud of her admirers took a glass of the water in which the fair one stood, and drank her health to the company. There was in the place a gay fellow half fuddled who offered to jump in, and swore tho' he liked not the liquor, he would have the toast [alluding to a drink with toast dipped in it]. He was opposed in his resolution; yet this whim gave foundation to the present honour which is done to the lady we mention in our liquors, who has ever since been called a toast." Another allusion to an origin, in No. 31 (June 21, 1709) by Richard Steele, makes no mention of the earlier story: "Then, said he [a gentleman in the country unfamiliar with the word], why do you call live people toasts? I answered, that was a new name found out by the wits, to make a lady have the same effect as burridge [borage, used as a garnish or ingredient in cordials] in a glass, when a man is drinking." As both Addison and Steele were capable of mixing fact with invention, these anecdotes should probably not be taken too seriously.

Verb (1)

Middle English tosten "to darken by heat, crisp and darken bread by heat," borrowed from Anglo-French toster, tostir (also continental Old French), going back to Late Latin tostāre "to roast, grill," frequentative derivative of Latin torrēre, past participle tostus (going back to *tors(e)tos) "to heat so as to dry, scorch, parch, (of food) roast" — more at thirst entry 1

Verb (2)

derivative of toast entry 1 (sense 2c)

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2

Verb (2)

1700, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of toast was in the 14th century

Phrases Containing toast

Dictionary Entries Near toast

toas

toast

toast brown

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Toast.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toast. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

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Kids Definition

toast

1 of 3 verb
ˈtōst How to pronounce toast (audio)
1
: to make crisp, hot, and brown by heat
toast bread
2
: to warm completely

toast

2 of 3 noun
1
: sliced toasted bread
2
a
: a person in whose honor other people drink
b
: a highly admired person
the toast of the town
3
: an act of drinking in honor of a person

toast

3 of 3 verb
: to suggest or drink to as a toast

More from Merriam-Webster on toast

Nglish: Translation of toast for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of toast for Arabic Speakers

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