toque

Noun (1)

toque (plural toques)

1. A type of hat with no brim.
   • Toques are for the most part indented in the mural style, in two rows, between which are placed marabout feathers. Flowers, feathers, ears of corn, in gold or silver: such are the chief ornaments on the heads of young ladies, either as separate decorations or all blended together. Black velvet...1824 January, La Belle Assemblée, volume 29, Fashions, page 32
   • "Because Esmé said she was going out this afternoon to choose a new toque, and she hoped I should like it, and I’m not quite sure what it is, or where she'll wear it. Do you mind explaining?"
     "Not at all. A toque is that which if it had strings would be a bonnet, and if it had brim, would be a hat....1903, Janet Elder Rait, Alison Howard, Archibald Constable & Co., page 273
2. (specifically) A tall white hat with no brim of the sort worn by chefs.
   • Chef Felder was in her early forties, slender, with short wavy brown hair, almost all of which could be contained within her toque.1999, Michael Ruhlman, The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America, Owl Books, →ISBN, page 154
   • When I came to the back of a man's head, wearing a toque, I knew I'd spotted my quarry.
     "Chef Reynoso?"2000, Jerrilyn Farmer, Killer Wedding, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 103
3. (broadly, informal) A chef.
   • 2007—October, Nicole Berrie, "Green Eggs and Sam", in Elle, page 360,
     Sam Mason first grabbed the spotlight as the pastry chef ... for being the most rock 'n' roll toque in town.
4. A variety of bonnet monkey; toque macaque, Macaca sinica.
5. (historical) An African nominal money of account, equal to 40 cowries.

Noun (2)

Canada/tuːk/

toque (plural toques)

1. (Canada) A knitted hat, usually conical but of varying shape, often woollen, and sometimes topped by a pom-pom or tassel.
   • Such is the demented nature of the universe that I was too weak to properly respond to my being hit on by carloads of Betties and Veronicas—all except for the cheeky Cheryl Anderson who gave me ‘manual release’ the day I lost my eyebrows, followed by a flood of tears and the snapping of Polaroids...1998, Douglas Coupland, chapter 1, in Girlfriend in a Coma, page 4
   • It was like entering the Millennial id. Craft beer and cucumber water poured from kitchen taps. Laptoppers in jeans and toques clacked along to MGMT in the wood-paneled common area.2018 March, Laura Bliss, “How WeWork Has Perfectly Captured the Millennial Id”, in The Atlantic

   Synonyms:

   beanie, knit cap, stocking cap, watch cap

Noun (3)

toque (countable and uncountable, plural toques)

1. A rhythm used in Latin music, especially Cuban religious rituals.
2. The guitar part of flamenco music.