toad

plural toads · alternative obsolete tode · alternative archaic dialectal twoad

1. An amphibian, a kind of frog (broad sense, order Anura) with shorter hindlegs and a drier, wartier skin, many in family Bufonidae.

   1971, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger & John Densmore, "Riders on the Storm", The Doors, L.A. Woman. There's a killer on the road / His brain is squirmin' like a toad

   2 more examples

   Shortly he heard the trolls coming. They had a fiddler with them, and some began dancing, while others fell to eating the Christmas fare on the table - some fried bacon, and some fried frogs and toads, and other nasty things which they had brought with them.

   1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 149

   Perhaps the largest number of volunteers — more than 33,000 of them — support the Wildlife Trusts on 2,600 nature reserves. But scattered around the country are smaller, specialist teams such as the Charlcombe Toad Rescue Group, near Bath. More than 50 volunteers wearing high-vis jackets and carrying torches and buckets spent 600 hours this year helping 1,547 toads and many other amphibians to safely cross Charlcombe Lane on their way to their breeding lake. From toads to towpaths, the unsung and committed efforts of our rural volunteers play a very large role in keeping our countryside looking how we all want it to look. Let's salute them.

   2026 June 28, John Craven, “This unsung, unpaid army of workers is vital for rural Britain”, in BBC Countryfile, number 243, page 21

   Synonyms: pad, paddock

2. derogatoryA contemptible or unpleasant person.
3. derogatoryAn ugly person.

present singular third person toads · participle present toading · participle past toaded · past toaded · alternative obsolete tode · alternative archaic dialectal twoad

1. InternetinformaltransitiveTo expel (a user) permanently from a MUD or similar system, so that their account is deleted.