toast 
some other way is specially indicated as a per- 
son often toasted ; also, anything, as a politi- 
cal cause, the memory of a person, etc., to 
which a company is requested to drink. 
I'll take my Death, Marwood, you are more Censorious 
than a dccay'd Beauty, or a discarded Toast. 
Cungreve, Way of the World, iii. 10. 
It happen'd that on a publick day a celebrated beauty 
of those times [of Charles II.] was in the Cross-Bath [at 
Bath], and one of the crowd of her admirers took a glass 
of 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 (making an 
allusion to the usage of the times of drinking with a toast 
at the bottom of the glass). Tho' he was opposed in his 
resolution, this whim gave foundation to the present hon- 
our which is done to the lady we mention in our liquors, 
who has ever since been called a toast. 
Tatter, No. 24 (June 4, 1709). 
Her eldest daughter was within half-a-year of being a 
toast. Steele, Tatler, No. 96. 
2. A call on another or others to drink to the 
health of some person named, or to the pros- 
perity of some cause, etc. : often accompanied 
by a sentiment or motto ; also, the act of thus 
drinking. 
Let the toast pass 
Drink to the lass, 
I'll warrant she'll prove an excuse for the glass. 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, iii. 3. 
3f. One who drinks to excess ; a soaker. 
When, having half din'd, there comes in my host, 
A Catholic good, and a rare drunken toast. 
Cotton, Voyage to Ireland, iii. 
toast 2 (tost), v. [< toast 2 , .] I. trans. To 
drink as a toast ; drink to the health of : wish 
success or prosperity to in drinking; also, to 
designate as the person or subject to whom or 
to which other persons are requested to drink ; 
propose the health of. 
The gentleman has . . . toasted your health. 
Farquhar, Beaux' Stratagem, iii. 1. 
Careless. Now then, Charles, be honest, and give us your 
real favourite. 
Charles S. Why, I have withheld her only in compas- 
sion to you. If I toast her, you must give a round of her 
peers, which is impossible on earth. 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, iii. 3. 
II. intrans. To drink a toast or toasts ; also, 
to propose a toast or toasts. 
Friendship without Freedom is as dull as ... Wine 
without toasting. Congreve, Way of the World, i. 8. 
These insect reptiles, whilst they go on only caballing 
and toasting, only nil us with disgust. 
Burke, Petition of the Unitarians. 
toaster 1 (tos'ter), n. [< toasft + -eri.] 1. One 
who toasts something, as bread or cheese. 2. 
An instrument for toasting bread, cheese, etc. ; 
especially, such an appliance other than a 
toasting-fork. Toasters for bread are often 
small gridirons of wire which hold the slice of 
bread fast without tearing it. 3. Something 
fit for toasting. [Colloq.] 
"Come and look at "em ! here 's toasters .' " bellows one 
with a Yarmouth bloater stuck on a toasting-fork. 
Mayheic, London Labour and London Poor, I. 11. 
toaster 2 (tos'ter), . [< toast 2 + -eri.] One 
who proposes a toast ; an admirer of women. 
We simple Toasters take Delight 
To see our Women's Teeth look white ; . . . 
In China none hold Women sweet 
Except their Suaggs are black as Jett. 
Prior, Alma, ii. 
toasting-fork (tos'ting-f 6rk), . 1 . A large fork 
with several prongs and a long handle, for 
toasting bread at an open fire. 2. A sword. 
[Ludicrous.] 
If I had given him time to get at his other pistol, or his 
toasting-fork, it was all up. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, II. xvii. 
toasting-glass (tos'ting-glas), n. A drinking- 
glass used for toasts, and inscribed with the 
name of a belle, or with verses in her honor. 
Garfli, Toasting-Glasses of the Kit-Cat Club 
(1703). 
toasting-iron (tos'ting-i'ern), n. Same as 
toasting-fork, in either sense. Shak., K. John, 
iv. 3. 99; Thackeray, Pendennis, xxii. 
toast-master (tost'mas'ter), re. One who, at a 
public dinner or similar entertainment, is ap- 
pointed to propose or announce the toasts : in 
the United States he is usually the one who 
presides. 
Mr. Chisel, the immortal toast-master, who presided over 
the President. Thackeray, A Dinner in the City, iii. 
toast-rack (tost'rak), . A contrivance for 
holding dry toast, each slice being held on edge 
between slender rings or supports of wire, etc. 
toast-water (tost'wa/ter), re. Water in which 
toasted bread has been steeped, used as a bev- 
erage by invalids. 
6362 
toat (tot), n. The pushing-handle of a carpen- 
ters' plane. See plane-stock. 
toazet, )'. t. An old spelling of tose. 
tobaccanalian (to-bak-a-na'lian), n. [< tobac- 
c(o) + -analian, in imitation of bacchanalian.] 
One who indulges in tobacco ; a smoker. [Hu- 
morous.] 
We get very good cigars for a bajocco and half that is, 
very good for us cheap tobaccanalians. 
Thackeray, Newcomes, xxxv. 
tobacchiant, n. [< tobacco + -tan.] One who 
smokes tobacco; a smoker. [Bare.] 
sin n (i must U'li you; are no uuse ZVBBOMHMH. wx uu 
manner of taking the fume they suppose to be generous. 
Venner, Treatise of Tobacco (ed. 1637). 
tobacco (to-bak'6), n. [Formerly also tabacco, 
tabaco, tobacca; = F. tabac (not in Cotgrave, 
1611, who gives only petum and nicotiane), some- 
times tobac = It. tabaco (1578), tabacco (1598) = 
D. taback (1659), now tabak = G. tabak = Dan. 
Sw. tobak = Bohem. tabak = Pol. tabaka = 
Euss. tabaku = Ar. tobagh (the usual Ar. name 
being different, tutun, toton, Pers. tutan, Turk. 
totun, y Pol. tytun) = NGr. Ta/zTrd/cof, ra//7rdKov 
= Pers. Hind, tambaku (cf . Pers. tumbeki, Turk. 
tunbeki) = Chinese tambako, tambaku = Jap. 
to&afco (< E.) (NL. tabacca (Camden, 1585), tofta- 
c (Lobel, 1576; Bauhin, 1596)); < Sp. tabaco, 
formerly also tabacco = Pg. tabaco, < W. Ind. 
(Haytian or Caribbean) 'tabacco or *tabaco, of 
uncertain meaning, conflicting accounts be- 
ing given : (a) According to Charlevoix, in his 
"History of St. Dominique," the pipe used by 
the Indians in smoking was called tabaco. (b) 
According to Las Casas, the Spaniards in the 
first voyage of Columbus saw the Indians in 
Cuba smoking dry herbs or leaves rolled up in 
tubes called tabacos. (c) According to Clavi- 
gero, the word was one of the native names of 
the plant, namely the Haytian (cf. the quot. 
from Hakluyt). (d) According to Bauhin (1596) 
and Minsheu (1617), etc., tobacco was so called 
from an island of the same name, now called 
Tobago, near Trinidad (cf. trinidado, a former 
name of tobacco), (e) In another view, it was 
so called from Tabaco, said to be a province 
of Yucatan. (/) Other Indian names were up- 
powoc (see quot. from Hakluyt), picietl (Clavi- 
gero; Stevens, 1706), picielt (Bauhin, 1596), pei- 
cielt, or pilciet (Minsheu, 1617), petum or petun 
(a S. Amer. term) (see petun), tomabona, pere- 
becenuc (Bauhin, 1596), etc. In Europe it was 
also called nicotian, queen's herb (F. Fherbe de 
la royne), etc.: see nicotian."] 1. A plant of the 
genus Nicotiana, particularly one of several spe- 
cies affording the narcotic product of the same 
name. The most generally cultivated is X. Tabacum, a 
plant of South American origin, found in culture among 
the aborigines. It is of stately habit, 3 to 6 feet high ; the 
leaves from ovate to narrowly lanceolate, the lower com- 
monly 2 or 3 feet long ; the flowers of purplish tints, 2 
inches long, disposed in a terminal panicle. (See cut un- 
der Nicotiana.) Prominent cultivated forms are the vari- 
ety macrophylla, known as Maryland tobacco, to which the 
Cuban and Manila tobaccos are accredited, and the va- 
riety angusttfolia, Virginian tobacco. The only other spe- 
cies extensively grown is N. rustica, a much smaller plant 
with smaller greenish flowers, sometimes called green to- 
bacco from the fact that the leaves retain much of their 
color when dry. It is suited to cool latitudes, and culti- 
vated northward in Europe and in parts of Asia, yielding 
among others the Hungarian and Turkish tobaccos. N. 
o-uadrimlvis is grown by the Indians from Oregon to the 
Missouri river, and is their favorite kind, a low -branching, 
viscid-pubescent plant a foot high. Some other species 
are cultivated locally. The United States leads in the pro- 
duction of tobacco, but it is grown more or less in nearly 
all temperate and tropical lands. The quality depends 
greatly on climate, the Cuban or other fine varieties de- 
generating when planted elsewhere. Cuban tobacco is 
considered finest, that of Manila being named with it. 
Turkish tobaccos are famous, as also the Latakia of a dis- 
trict in northern Syria. Virginian tobacco ranks very 
high. 
There is an herbe [in Virginia] which is sowed apart by 
it selfe, and is called by the inhabitants Vppowoc ; in the 
West Indies it hath diners names; . . . the Spanyards 
generally call it Tabacco. Hakluyt's Voyages, III. 271. 
Into the woods thenceforth in haste shee went 
To seeke for hearbes that mote him remedy ; . . . 
There, whether yt divine Tobacco were, 
Or Fanachiea, or Polygony, 
Shee fownd. Spenser, F. Q., III. v. 32. 
2. The leaves of the tobaeco-plant prepared in 
various forms, to be smoked, chewed, or used 
as snuff (see Snuff). Tobacco-leaves are sometimes 
gathered singly ; more commonly the stalks are cut, and 
suspended on sticks under shelter for drying, which re- 
quires several weeks. The leaves are then stripped and 
sorted, tied in bundles called hands, and "bulked" in 
compact circular heaps to secure a slight fermentation, 
which develops the properties valued; they are then 
packed for the manufacturer, who makes them into cigars, 
tobacco-heart 
cheroots, cigarettes, and cut, plug, and roll tobacco, in- 
tended for smoking and chewing, and into snuff. The 
properties of tobacco are chiefly due to the alkaloid nico- 
tine (which see). Medically considered, tobacco is a pow- 
erful sedative poison and a local stimulant, not now used 
internally unless in chronic asthma, but applied in some 
skin- diseases, hemorrhoids, etc. In its ordinary use as 
a narcotic it induces a physical and mental quiet very 
gratifying to the habituated, overcoming the distaste for 
its obnoxious properties, and making it the most nearly 
universal of narcotics. In large quantities it gives rise 
to confusion of the mind, vertigo, nausea, and at length 
to depression and dangerous prostration. Historically, 
tobacco was found in use among the Indians at the dis- 
covery of America, and associated with their solemn trans- 
actions. (See calumet.) It was unknown in the Old World 
before this time. It was introduced into Europe about 
1559 by a Spanish physician, who brought a small quantity 
from America into Spain and Portugal. Thence its use 
spread into France and Italy. Sir Francis Drake intro- 
duced it into England about 1685, where tobacco-taverns 
soon became nearly as prevalent as ale-houses. Its use was 
opposed strongly by both priests and rulers. Pope Urban 
VIII. excommunicated users of tobacco; in Turkey and 
other countries its use was severely punished. The " Coun- 
terblast" of James I. of England is matter of history. 
The use of tobacco spread, however, in the face of all pro- 
hibitions. 
Ber. Hearke you, my host, haue you a pipe of good To- 
bacco ? 
Ve. The best in the towne : boy, drie a leafe. 
Boy. There 's none in the house, sir. 
Ve. Drie a docke leafe. 
Chapman, Humorous Day's Mirth. 
I marie what pleasure or felicitie they haue in taking 
this roguish tabacco ! it 's good for nothing but to choke 
a man, and fill him full of smoke and embers. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour (ed. 1616), iii. 5. 
Sublime tobacco ! which from east to west 
Cheers the tar's labour or the Turkman's rest. 
Byron, The Island, ii. 19. 
Bird's-eye tobacco. See bird's-eye, 2. Broad-leafed 
tobacco, the Maryland tobacco. See def. 1. Cake to- 
bacco. Same as plug tobacco. See below. Canaster 
tobacco. See canaster. Cavendish tobacco. See cav- 
endish. Congo tobacco. Same as deiamba. Cut to- 
bacco, tobacco prepared for use by cutting into fine 
strips or shreds. Green tobacco. See def. 1. Indian 
tobacco, a common American herb, Lobelia injlata. It is 
6 inches to 2 feet high, with numerous leaves, and racemes 
of pale-blue flowers. It is said to have been used medi- 
cinally by the Indians, and is now the officinal lobelia, with 
properties resembling those of tobacco, an unsafe emetic, 
but available in spasmodic asthma. Also called gagroot. 
Latakia tobacco, a tobacco produced in northern 
Syria, one kind of which has an admired aroma, derived 
from being cured in the smoke of oak-wood. Leaf to- 
bacco, tobacco unmanufactured. Maryland tobacco. 
See def. 1. Mountain tobacco. See Arnica, 2 and 3. 
Oil of tobacco. See oil. Orinoco tobacco, a local 
product, probably of the Maryland variety. Persian 
tobacco, tobacco produced in Persia and Turkey; spe- 
cifically, the Shiraz. Pigtail tobacco, roll tobacco, or a 
variety of it. Plug tobacco, tobacco compressed into 
solid blocks, commonly first moistened with molasses or 
other liquid; cake or cavendish tobacco. Riverside to- 
bacco. SeePJwcAeo. Roll tobacco, tobacco-leaves spun 
into a rope and subjected to hot pressure. Shag tobac- 
co. See thagi, 4. Shiraz tobacco, a commercial tobacco 
produced in Persia. Syrian tobacco, tobacco produced 
in Syria, apparently the same as or including the Latakia, 
affording choice cigars. Good Syrian tobacco is said to 
contain no nicotine. The name is applied to Nicotiana 
rustica, formerly regarded as the source of the Syrian pro- 
duct (see def. 1). Tobacco amaurosis or amblyopla, 
dimness of vision resulting from the abuse of tobacco and 
usually also of alcohol. Tobacco camphor. Same as 
nicotianin Tobacco ointment. See ointment. To 
drink tobaccot. See drink, 5. Turkish tobacco. See 
def. 1. Twist tobacco. Same as roll tobacco. See above. 
Virginian tobacco. See def. 1. Wild tobacco, (a) 
Nicotiana rustica. See def. 1. (6) Same as Indian tobacco. 
See above. 
tobacco-beetle (to-bak'6-be"tl), . A cosmo- 
politan ptinid beetle, Lasioderma serricorne, 
which lives in all stages in many pungent spices 
and drugs, and is so fond of stored or manufac- 
tured tobacco as to become a pest in many 
manufactories and warehouses in the United 
States. Also called cigarette-beetle. 
tobacco-box (to-bak'6-bpks), . 1. A small 
flat pocket-box for holding tobacco for chew- 
ing or smoking. 2. A common skate or ray, a 
batoid fish, Eaia erinacea. [Local, U. S.] 3. 
The common sunfish or pumpkin-seed, Pomotis 
gibbosits, or another of the same genus. See 
cut under sunfish. [Local, U. S.] 
tobacco-cutter (to-bak'6-kut"er), . 1. A ma- 
chine for shaving tobacco-leaves into shreds 
for smoking or chewing. 2. A knife for cut- 
ting pieces from a plug of tobacco ; a tobacco- 
knife. E. H. Knight. 
tobacco-dove (to-bak'6-duv), n. The small 
ground-dove, Chameepelia (or ColumbigalUna) 
passerina. [Bahamas.] 
tobacco-grater (to-bak'o-gra'ter),/!. A machine 
for grinding tobacco for smoking, it consists of 
a circular closed box in which a sieve is revolved by means 
of a crank, while projecting teeth reduce the leaves to 
the size required. E. H. Knight. 
tobacco-heart (to-bak'6-hart), n. A functional 
disorder of the heart, characterized by a rapid 
and often irregular pulse, due to excessive use 
of tobacco. 
