tout

[tout]Informal.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tout ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to solicit business, employment, votes, or the like, importunately.

Horse Racing. to act as a tout.

verb (used with object)

to solicit support for importunately.

to describe or advertise boastfully; publicize or promote; praise extravagantly: a highly touted nightclub.

Horse Racing.

to provide information on (a horse) running in a particular race, especially for a fee.
to spy on (a horse in training) in order to gain information for the purpose of betting.

to watch; spy on.

noun

a person who solicits business, employment, support, or the like, importunately.

Horse Racing.

a person who gives information on a horse, especially for a fee.
Chiefly British.a person who spies on a horse in training for the purpose of betting.

British. a ticket scalper.

Origin of tout

1350–1400; Middle English tuten to look out, peer; probably akin to Old English tōtian to peep out

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for touting

laud, proclaim, praise, publicize, promote, trumpet, plug, acclaim, ballyhoo, tip, herald, push, boost, steer

Examples from the Web for touting

Contemporary Examples of touting

The pro-gun advocacy group is putting out online ads in Arkansas touting its support of Rep. Tom Cotton, the GOP Senate candidate.
A Tom Cotton Ad on Grindr?
Ben Jacobs
October 29, 2014
If there is one precious commodity for America, it is our touting of the First Amendment.
Ferguson Shows a Nation at War With Itself
Roland S. Martin
August 16, 2014
Cuomo is touting his on-time budgets over the last four years as a “grand slam.”
Powerbroker Richard Ravitch Thinks New York Might Be Doomed
Josh Robin
April 26, 2014
The Sportsman Channel was touting its upcoming new series, “Amazing America with Sarah Palin.”
CPAC: Come for the Crazy, Stay for the Party
Michelle Cottle
March 7, 2014
Israel has been an enthusiastic supporter of Callis, touting her judicial background.
DINO Hunting: Netroots vs. Steve Israel
David Freedlander
February 28, 2014

Historical Examples of touting

Or was he only a purist in conduct who disapproved of Jacobus doing his own touting?
'Twixt Land & Sea
Joseph Conrad
I suppose the red-headed mug thinks so too, as she is touting for him.
Some Everyday Folk and Dawn
Miles Franklin
Domini could scarcely believe that so magnificent a creature was touting for a franc.
The Garden Of Allah
Robert Hichens
"I say I will be touting for no restaurant," I repeated, loudly.
Rolling Stones
O. Henry
What can be got by touting among the critics is never worth the ignominy.
An Autobiography
Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for touting

tout

verb

to solicit (business, customers, etc) or hawk (merchandise), esp in a brazen way

(intr)

to spy on racehorses being trained in order to obtain information for betting purposes
to sell, or attempt to sell, such information or to take bets, esp in public places

(tr) informal to recommend flatteringly or excessively

noun

a person who spies on racehorses so as to obtain betting information to sell
a person who sells information obtained by such spying

a person who solicits business in a brazen way

Also called: ticket tout a person who sells tickets unofficially for a heavily booked sporting event, concert, etc, at greatly inflated prices

Ulster a police informer

Derived Formstouter, noun

Word Origin for tout

C14 (in the sense: to peer, look out): related to Old English tӯtan to peep out

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for touting

tout

1700, thieves' cant, "to act as a lookout, spy on," from Middle English tuten "to peep, peer," probably from a variant of Old English totian "to stick out, peep, peer," from Proto-Germanic *tut- "project" (cf. Dutch tuit "sprout, snout," Middle Dutch tute "nipple, pap," Middle Low German tute "horn, funnel," Old Norse tota "teat, toe of a shoe"). The sense developed to "look out for jobs, votes, etc., to try to get them" (1731), then "praise highly" (1920). Related: Touted; touting.