Toadeater Definition
tōdētər
noun
A toady.
American Heritage
A quack doctor's assistant who pretended to eat toads, etc. as a public demonstration of the efficacy of the doctor's medicines.
Webster's New World
Webster's New World
A fawning, obsequious parasite; a mean sycophant or flatterer.
You're too zealous a toadeater, and betray yourself. "” C. Dickens (1844).
A chaplain, tutor, toadeater, or some superior servant. "” J. Wilson (1819).
A toad eater, a led captain, an humble companion, are appellations which no man, who has a real sense of honour, would chuse to possess; but these are the best names bestowed upon men who spend their lives in courting the great by all arts, but those of virtue and truth. V. Knox (1781).
Wiktionary
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
Wiktionary
Other Word Forms of Toadeater
Noun
Singular:
toadeater
Plural:
toadeatersOrigin of Toadeater
-
toad +"Ž eater, said to allude to an old alleged practice among mountebanks' boys of eating toads (popularly supposed to be poisonous), so that their masters could pretend to effect a cure. Compare toady.
From Wiktionary
Originally, a charlatan's helper who ate (or pretended to eat) poisonous toads so that his employer could display his prowess in expelling the poison
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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