toast

Meaning

Noun

1. Toasted bread.
2. A proposed salutation (e.g. to say "cheers") while drinking alcohol.
3. A person, group, or notable object to which a salutation with alcohol is made; a person or group held in similar esteem.
4. (slang) Something that that is irreparably damaged or used up, especially when destroyed by heat or fire; something which has been burnt to a crisp or incinerated.
5. (slang) Something that will be no more; something subject to impending destruction, harm or injury.
6. (slang) A type of extemporaneous narrative poem or rap.
7. (obsolete,slang) An old toast ("a lively fellow who drinks excessively").
8. A transient, informational unclickable pop-up overlay, less interactive than a snackbar.
9. A piece of toast.
10. Ad-libbed by actor Bill Murray in the 1984 film Ghostbusters (see quotation).

Verb

1. To lightly cook by browning via direct exposure to a fire or other heat source.
2. To grill, lightly cook by browning specifically under a grill or in a toaster
3. To engage in a salutation and/or accompanying raising of glasses while drinking alcohol in honor of someone or something.
4. To warm thoroughly.
5. (slang) To perform extemporaneous narrative poem or rap.

Synonyms

roast

pledge

drink

🥤

parch

wassail

bake

grill

fry

scorch

broil

cook

🧑‍🍳

dry

sear

salute

heat

goner

crisp

barbecue

rouse

singe

skoal

crispen

knell

libation

cheers

calycle

poach

praise

burn

caliculus

ruined

brown

sandwich

🥪

bowl

bottoms up

seduce

cook again

炙る

slog

swot

toady

toasted bread

torrefy

boil

in the lurch

congratulatory cup

sweal

braai

fry up

recook to preserve

goblet

dry up

done for

address

Pronounced as (IPA)

/təʊst/

Etymology

From Middle English tost, from the verb tosten (see below).
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 17th century. The conventional assumption is that the use is metaphorical, "the name of a lady being supposed to flavour a drink like a spiced toast." This is pure speculation, however, as the origin of the sense remains obscure.