Meaning of Tout | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.
2. In the game of solo, a proposal to win all eight tricks.
3. A person at a racecourse who offers supposedly inside information on which horse is likely to win.
4. An informer in the Irish Republican Army.
   colloquial
5. A spy for a smuggler, thief, or the like.
   archaic, colloquial

Equivalents

Examples

“Be careful of the ticket touts outside the arena; they are famed for selling counterfeits.”

“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.'”

“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.”

“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.”

CEFR level