toadeater

1 definition found

toadeater - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Toadeater \Toad"eat`er\, n. [Said to be so called in allusion to
     an old alleged practice among mountebanks' boys of eating
     toads (popularly supposed to be poisonous), in order that
     their masters might have an opportunity of pretending to
     effect a cure. The French equivalent expression is un avaleur
     de couleuvres. Cf. Toady.]
     A fawning, obsequious parasite; a mean sycophant; a
     flatterer; a toady. --V. Knox.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           You had nearly imposed upon me, but you have lost your
           labor. You're too zealous a toadeater, and betray
           yourself.                                --Dickens.
     [1913 Webster]