touts

Noun (1)

tout (plural touts)

1. Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.
   • Be careful of the ticket touts outside the arena; they are famed for selling counterfeits.

   Synonyms:

   barker, pitchman, spruiker

2. A person at a racecourse who offers supposedly inside information on which horse is likely to win.
   • 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.1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London...
3. (colloquial) An informer in the Irish Republican Army.
   • 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.2011, Hugh Jordan, Milestones in Murder: Defining Moments in Ulster's Terror War
4. (archaic, colloquial) A spy for a smuggler, thief, or the like.

Noun (2)

tout

1. In the game of solo, a proposal to win all eight tricks.

See all 12 meanings of tout