: 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
He's such a mean little toad.
that miserable toad is lucky to have even a single friend
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Race across the grass, check on our neighbor's cattle and catch toads at sunset.—Sarah Henry, AZCentral.com, 4 Feb. 2026 The collection includes $100 hoodies, $55-$60 T-shirts and New Era baseball caps that show the toad wearing all the NFL uniforms.—Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 4 Feb. 2026 The designs puts Concho, his Puerto Rican toad mascot, in all 32 NFL uniforms.—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026 It's become the boy who cried wolf, bear, moose, badger, wombat, elephant, natterjack toad, mandrel, meerkat, blue whale, lesser skink, prairie dog, ferret, wildebeest, dingo, tree kangaroo, sloth, anteater, blue-footed booby, Norwegian Blue, and half the catalog in the Museum of Natural History.—New Atlas, 24 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for toad
Word History
Etymology
Middle English tode, from Old English tāde, tādige
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of toad was
before the 12th century
: any of numerous tailless leaping amphibians that lay their eggs in water and are distinguished from the related frogs by living on land more often, by having a build that is shorter and thicker with weaker and shorter hind limbs, and by having skin that is rough, dry and warty rather than smooth and moist