tobreste

t. ori. To burst to pieces. *to-hew, v. t. To hew or cut to pieces. *to-pinch, v. t. To pinch severely. "Fairy-like to - pinch the unclean knight." Shakesp.: Merry Wives of Windsor , iv. 4. change in his constitution." -Athenœum, Oct. 16, 1886, p. 502. toad-eater, subst. A term applied to a fawning, obsequious parasite; a mean sycophant. (Now shortened to toady.) "A corrupted court formed of miscreant toad -eaters." -Knox : Spirit of Despotism , § 20. The original meaning is one who is willing to toast Common Toad. Extraordinary virtues were attributed to it; it was held to be a protection against poison, and was often set in rings. That this belief was rife in Shakespeare's time is proved by the lines ( As You Like It , ii. 1): "Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head." According to Sir Thomas Browne ( Vulg . Err ., bk. iii., ch. xiii.), there were two kinds of toad-stones known in his day; the one "a mineral concretion, not to be found in animals, but in fields;" the other "taken not out of the toad's head, but out of a fish's mouth, being handsomely contrived out of the teeth of the lupus mar in us , a fish often taken in our northern seas, as was publicly declared by an eminent and learned physician" (Sir George Ent). toad-stone (2), s. [From the German todtstein = (dead-stone) the todtliegenden of the Germans.] Petrol.: An igneous rock of Carboniferous age, occurring in veins and sheets in limestone. German name was given because of its barrenne in metalliferous ores. The rock is usually much altered by chemical agencies, but it evidently belongs to the group of dolerites. toad's back rail, s. The Arch .: A particular kind of hand-rail for stairs. IV. vii. 8.) *to-torne, a. Torn to pieces. (Spenser: F. Q., V. ix. 10.) *to-worne, adj . Worn out. (Spenser: F. Q., V. ix. 10.) tô- (2), pref . [A. S. to =for, as in to'dæge =for the day, to-day; to morgen for the morn, to-morrow.] to-day, s. & adv . A. As subst .: The present day; as, To - day is Friday. B. As adv.: On this day; as, They left to -day. to-morrow, *to-mor we, *to-morow, s. & adv. A. As subst .: The day after the present. "A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays And confident to - morrows ." Words worth: Excursion, bk. vii. B. As adv.: On or in the day after the present. "Than helpe me, lord, to - mor we in my bataille." Chaucer: C. Т. , 2,402. To-morrow come never : On a day which will never arrive; never. IMG:content-1180.png:[blocks in formation] *2. Last night. (Shakesp.: Merchant of Venice, ii. 5.) *to-year, *to-yere, adv . This year. ( Prompt . Parv .) toad, *tade, *tode, *toode, subst . [A. S. tádige , tádie , a word of unknown origin.) [TADPOLE.] Zool .: The popular name of any species of the family Bufonide (q. v.), which is almost universally distributed, but is rare in the Australian region, one species being found in Celebes and one in Australia. Three species are European: The Common Toad ( Bufo vulgar is ) and the Natterjack (q.v.) (B. calamita), and B. variabilis . The common American species is B. lentiginosus , and is more active than the European species, moving principally by leaping. The first is the type of the family. The body is swollen and heavy-looking, covered with a warty skin, head large, flat, and toothle , with a rounded, blunt muzzle. There is a swelling above the eyes covered with pores, and the parotids are large, thick, and prominent, and secrete an acrid fluid, which probably gave rise to the popular stories about the venom of the toad, or they may owe their origin to the fact that when handled or irritated these animals can eject a watery fluid from the vent. But neither the secretion from the parotids nor the ejected fluid is harmful to man, and there is little doubt but that its effects on the lower animals have been much exaggerated. The toad has four fingers and five partially-webbed toes. The general color above is a brownish-gray, the tubercles more or le brown; under surface yellowish white, sometimes spotted with black. Toads are terrestrial, hiding in damp, dark places during the day, and crawling with the head near the ground, for their short limbs are badly adapted for leaping. They are extremely tenacious of life, and can exist a long time without food; their hibernation in mud, cracks, and holes has probably given rise to the stories of their being found in places where they must have existed for centuries without food and air. These stories, however, have no foundation in fact, for Dr. Buck land proved, by as the sight of a toad is most disgusting. The French equivalent is avaler des couleuvres , lit.= to swallow adders, hence, to put up with mortifications. toad-eating, a. & s. A. As adj.: Pertaining to a toad-eater or his practices; servilely or meanly sycophantic. B. As subst.: Servile or mean sycophancy; toadyism. toad-fish, s. Ichthy .: A popular American name for any fish of the genus Batrachus, from the large head, wide gape, and generally repulsive appearance of the species. The Common Toad-fish ( Batrachus tau ) is from eight inches to a foot long, light brown marbled with black. The Grunting Toad-fish ( B.grun . niens), about the same size, is brownish above, with darker markings, white below, fins white with brown bands. There are about twelve species from tropical and sub-tropical seas. toad-flax, s. Bot.: The genus Linaria. The species are herbaceous plants, native chiefly of the colder and temperate parts of the Old World. The common species ( Linaria vulgar is ) has found its way, probably along with grain or other gra es, into the United States. Of the European species the Round-leaved Toad-flax is Linaria spuria; the Sharp-pointed Toad-flax or Fluellen, L. elatine ; the Yellow Toad. flax, L. vulgar is ; the Upright Purple Toad-flax, L. pel is ser i an a; the Creeping Pale-blue Toad-flax, L. repens ; and the Least Toad-flax, L. minor. The most common is the Yellow Toad-flax. It is one to two feet high, with a leafy, almost glabrous, stem; linear or lanceolate leaves, often whorled; and