Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Toad

Toad (tōd), n. [OE. tode, tade, AS. tādie, tādige; of unknown origin. Cf. Tadpole.] (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of batrachians belonging to the genus Bufo and allied genera, especially those of the family Bufonidæ. Toads are generally terrestrial in their habits except during the breeding season, when they seek the water. Most of the species burrow beneath the earth in the daytime and come forth to feed on insects at night. Most toads have a rough, warty skin in which are glands that secrete an acrid fluid.

☞ The common toad (Bufo vulgaris) and the natterjack are familiar European species. The common American toad (B. lentiginosus) is similar to the European toad, but is less warty and is more active, moving chiefly by leaping.

Obstetrical toad. (Zoöl.) See under Obstetrical. — Surinam toad. (Zoöl.) See Pita. — Toad lizard (Zoöl.), a horned toad. — Toad pipe (Bot.), a hollow-stemmed plant (Equisetum limosum) growing in muddy places. Dr. Prior. — Toad rush (Bot.), a low-growing kind of rush (Juncus bufonius). — Toad snatcher (Zoöl.), the reed bunting. [Prov. Eng.] — Toad spittle. (Zoöl.) See Cuckoo spit, under Cuckoo. — Tree toad. (Zoöl.) See under Tree.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.