toad

noun \ ˈtōd \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Definition of toad

1 : any of numerous anuran amphibians (especially family Bufonidae) that are distinguished from the related frogs by being more terrestrial in habit though returning to water to lay their eggs, by having a build that is squatter and shorter with weaker and shorter hind limbs, and by having skin that is rough, dry, and warty rather than smooth and moist

2 : a contemptible person or thing

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Examples of toad in a Sentence

He's such a mean little toad.
that miserable toad is lucky to have even a single friend

Recent Examples of toad from the Web

Thumbelina is kidnapped from the woman who grows her in a tulip from a grain of barley and nearly coerced into marriages with, sequentially, a toad and a mole.

— louis bayard, New York Times, "Audiobooks for Summer Trips With the Kids," 28 May 2018
Silence your internal neat freak A well-kempt garden is the toad’s worst enemy.

— molly marquand, Good Housekeeping, "5 Ways To Attract Toads To Your Garden (And Why You’d Totally Want To)," 16 May 2017
San Diego animals like the Arroyo toad and the Stephens’s kangaroo rat can greatly benefit from long-term monitoring.

— cliff kapono, sandiegouniontribune.com, "San Diego Zoo studies return of the giant panda," 6 July 2018
In 2014, a toxic invasive species—the Asian common toad—was spotted in Madagascar’s largest seaport.

— katie langin, Science | AAAS, "Top stories: toxic toads, three-parent babies in Singapore, and the hunt for the Lost Colony," 8 June 2018
Lee Sizemore, once a slimy toad of a man, gets a hero’s death helping Maeve and Hector escape.

— refinery29.com, "Westworld Season 2 Finale Recap: A Whole Lotta Ben Barnes," 25 June 2018
Once the sun rises, pick up the pieces from the night before with your crew over a toad in the hole toast with spicy pepper jam at the Ace’s primo restaurant, Whitfield.

— andrew richdale, GQ, "Five Gay Vacation Spots That Are Less Tired Than Fire Island," 21 June 2018
The Puerto-Rican crested toad has greenish-brown pebbled skin and marbled golden eyes.

— caroline blackmon, Detroit Free Press, "Puerto Rico just got 11,000 toads courtesy of the Detroit Zoo," 12 June 2018
Just a quick, investigative lick of the toad's back can be fatal to a dog.

— madeleine marr, miamiherald, "They show up in your yard after it rains. And they can kill your dog.," 6 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'toad.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.