tout
English
Etymology 1
From a dialectal form of toot (“to stick out; project; peer out; peep”), itself from Middle English toten, totien, from Old English tōtian (“to peep out; look; pry; spectate”). Merged with Middle English touten (“to jut out, protrude, gaze upon, observe, peer”), from Old English *tūtian, related to Old English tȳtan (“to stand out, be conspicuous, shine”). Compare Icelandic túta (“a teat-like prominence”), tútna (“to be blown up”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /taʊt/
- (Canada) IPA(key): /tʌʊt/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -aʊt
Noun
tout (plural touts)
- Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.
- Synonyms: barker, pitchman, (Australia) spruiker
- Be careful of the ticket touts outside the arena, they are famed for selling counterfeits.
- 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.'
- 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:
- 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.
-
- (colloquial) An informer in the Irish Republican Army.
- 2011, Hugh Jordan, Milestones in Murder: Defining Moments in Ulster's Terror War:
- The Derry Brigade of the IRA thought it had got rid of its informer problem when earlier that year it executed Paddy Flood as a tout, after holding him for six weeks.
-
- (colloquial, archaic) A spy for a smuggler, thief, or similar.
Derived terms
- ticket tout
Translations
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Verb
tout (third-person singular simple present touts, present participle touting, simple past and past participle touted)
- (transitive) To flaunt, to publicize/publicise; to boast or brag; to promote.
- Mary has been touted as a potential succesor to the current CEO.
- 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.
- 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 9:
- Newspaper articles also were generally positive in tone, although a tendency towards sensationalism means that the spread of hybrid forms is occasionally touted as the universal language of the future.
- (UK, slang, horse-racing, transitive) To spy out information about (a horse, a racing stable, etc.).
- (US, slang, horse-racing, transitive) To give a tip on (a racehorse) to a person, with the expectation of sharing in any winnings.
- (UK, 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.
- (US, slang, horse-racing, intransitive) To act as a tout; to give a tip on a racehorse.
- (intransitive) To look for, try to obtain; used with for.
- March 1, 2016, Ben Judah on BBC Business Daily:
- To understand the new London, I lived it. I slept rough with Roma beggars and touted for work with Baltic laborers on the kerb.
- March 1, 2016, Ben Judah on BBC Business Daily:
- (obsolete) To look upon or watch.
- 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, X, lvi:
- Nor durst Orcanes view the Soldan's face, / But still upon the floor did pore and tout.
- 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, X, lvi:
Synonyms
- pimp
- pitch
- promote
- spruik
Translations
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Etymology 2
Probably from French tout (“all”).
Noun
tout
- (card games) In the game of solo, a proposal to win all eight tricks.
See also
- tout court
French
Etymology
From Middle French tout, from Old French tot, from Vulgar Latin tōttus, alteration (likely via expressive gemination) of Latin tōtus. Compare Catalan tot, Italian tutto, Portuguese todo, Romanian tot, Spanish todo.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tu/, (in liaison) /tu.t‿/
audio (file) - (Quebec) IPA(key): /tʊt/
Noun
tout m (plural touts)
- whole, entirety, total
Determiner
tout (feminine toute, masculine plural tous, feminine plural toutes)
- all
Pronoun
tout (plural tous)
- everything
Derived terms
- après tout
- à toute
- à toute allure
- à toute épreuve
- à toutes fins utiles
- à toute vapeur
- à tout le moins
- avant tout
- avant toutes choses
- avoir réponse à tout
- avoir toute honte bue
- comme tout
- couronner le tout
- de rien du tout
- de toute façon
- de toutes pièces
- du tout
- du tout au tout
- en avant toute
- en tout
- en toute logique
- envers et contre tous
- être sur toutes les lèvres
- je-sais-tout
- malgré tout
- parler de tout et de rien
- pas du tout
- rien du tout
- risque-tout
- somme toute
- tenter le tout pour le tout
- tous deux
- tous les deux
- tout à coup
- tout à fait
- tout au moins
- tout au plus
- tout ça ne nous rendra pas le Congo
- tout ce qui brille n'est pas or
- tout chose
- tout comme
- tout compte fait
- tout craché
- tout d'abord
- tout de go
- tout de même
- tout de suite
- tout d'un coup
- toute la sainte journée
- toutes proportions gardées
- toutes voiles dehors
- tout et n'importe quoi
- tout fait
- tout feu tout flamme
- tout le monde
- tout le plaisir est pour moi
- tout le toutim
- tout l'or du monde
- tout mouillé
- tout ouïe
- tout plein
- tout seul
- tout travail mérite salaire
- tout un chacun
- tout vient à point à qui sait attendre
- un pour tous, tous pour un
- voilà tout
Adverb
tout
- all
Further reading
- “tout”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Haitian Creole
Etymology
From French tout (“all”).
Adjective
tout
- all
Adverb
tout
- all
- every
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French tot.
Adjective
tout m (feminine singular toute, masculine plural tous, feminine plural toutes)
- all; all of
- toute la nuit
- all (of the) night
Adverb
tout (feminine singular toute, masculine plural tous, feminine plural toutes)
- 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
-
- completely; totally; entirely
Usage notes
- Like Modern 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)
Descendants
- French: tout
Norman
Etymology
From Old French tot, from Latin tōtus.
Pronunciation
Audio (Jersey) (file)
Adjective
tout m
- (Jersey, Guernsey) all
Derived terms
- èrtithe-tout (“lumber-room”)
- homme à tout faithe (“jack of all trades”)
- laîsse-tout-faithe (“neglectful person”)
- tout à ièrs (“all eyes”)
- toute-êpice (“allspice”)
- tout-s'mêle (“busybody”)
Adverb
tout
- (Jersey, Guernsey) all
Scots
Verb
tout
- (intransitive) To pout.
Noun
tout (plural touts)
- A fit of sulking; a pet.
- A sudden illness.
Derived terms
- toutie