tout

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See also: toût

English[edit]

WOTD – 22 January 2009

Etymology 1[edit]

From a dialectal form of toot (“to stick out; project; peer out; peep”), itself from Middle English toten, from Old English tōtian (“to peep out; look; pry; spectate”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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tout (plural touts)

  1. Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.
    • 1886, Henry James, The Princess Casamassima.
      Paul Muniment looked at his young friend a moment. 'Do you want to know what he is? He's a tout.'
      'A tout? What do you mean?'
      'Well, a cat's-paw, if you like better.'
      Hyacinth stared. 'For whom, pray?'
      'Or a fisherman, if you like better still. I give you your choice of comparisons. I made them up as we came along in the hansom. He throws his nets and hauls in the little fishes—the pretty little shining, wriggling fishes. They are all for her; she swallows, 'em down.'
  2. A person, at a racecourse, who offers supposedly inside information on which horse is likely to win.
    • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Hocussing of Cigarette[1]:
      No one, however, would have anything to do with him, as Mr. Keeson's orders in those respects were very strict ; he had often threatened any one of his employés with instant dismissal if he found him in company with one of these touts.
  3. (colloquial, archaic) A spy for a smuggler, thief, or similar.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

tout (third-person singular simple present touts, present participle touting, simple past and past participle touted)

  1. (transitive) To flaunt, to publicize/publicise; to boast or brag; to promote.
    • 2016 January 25, "Why Arabs would regret a toothless Chinese dragon," The National (retrieved 25 January 2016):
      China has touted its policy of non-interference for decades.
    • 2012, Scott Tobias, The Hunger Games, The A.V. Club
      For the 75 years since a district rebellion was put down, The Games have existed as an assertion of the Capital’s power, a winner-take-all contest that touts heroism and sacrifice—participants are called “tributes”— while pitting the districts against each other.
  2. (obsolete) To look upon or watch.
  3. (Britain, slang, horse-racing, transitive) To spy out information about (a horse, a racing stable, etc.).
  4. (US, slang, horse-racing, transitive) To give a tip on (a racehorse) to a person, with the expectation of sharing in any winnings.
  5. (Britain, slang, horse-racing, intransitive) To spy out the movements of racehorses at their trials, or to get by stealth or other improper means the secrets of the stable, for betting purposes.
  6. (US, slang, horse-racing, intransitive) To act as a tout; to give a tip on a racehorse.
  7. "tout for": to look for, try to obtain
    To understand the new London, I lived it. I slept rough with Roma beggars and touted for work with Baltic laborers on the kerb. (Ben Judah on BBC Business Daily, March 1, 2016)
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Probably from French tout (“all”).

Noun[edit]

tout

  1. (card games) In the game of solo, a proposal to win all eight tricks.
See also[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French tout, from Old French tot, from Latin tōtus; compare Catalan tot, Italian tutto, Portuguese todo, Romanian tot, Spanish todo.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

tout (feminine singular toute, masculine plural tous, feminine plural toutes)

  1. all

Pronoun[edit]

tout

  1. everything

Adverb[edit]

tout

  1. all

Further reading[edit]

Haitian Creole[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French tout (“all”).

Adjective[edit]

tout

  1. all

Adverb[edit]

tout

  1. all

Middle French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French tot.

Adjective[edit]

tout m (feminine singular toute, masculine plural tous, feminine plural toutes)

  1. all; all of
    toute la nuit
    all (of the) night

Adverb[edit]

tout (feminine singular toute, masculine plural tous, feminine plural toutes)

  1. all (intensifier)
    • 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 45:
      Et moult y avoit de gens tout autour pour regarder la iustice de la damoiselle
      And there were many people all around to watch the justice afforded to the lady
  2. completely; totally; entirely

Descendants[edit]

Usage notes[edit]

  • Like French tout, when used as an intensifier it may inflect according to the gender and the number of what it is describing:
    Elle est toute morte ― she is completely dead
  • The uninflected form tout is always used for describing terms that don't inflect with gender, such as verbs, adverbs and prepositions:
    y avoit de gens tout autour ― there were people all around
    (tout qualifies the preposition autour)

Norman[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French tot, from Latin tōtus.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio (Jersey)
    		(file)

Adjective[edit]

tout m

  1. (Jersey, Guernsey) all

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from tout

Adverb[edit]

tout

  1. (Jersey, Guernsey) all
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