toaster¹

[toh-ster] /ˈtoʊ stər/

noun

an instrument or appliance for toasting bread, muffins, etc.

a person who toasts something.

Origin

1575-85; toast¹ + -er¹

toaster²

[toh-ster] /ˈtoʊ stər/

noun

a person who proposes or joins in a toast to someone or something.

Origin

1695-1705; toast² + -er¹

Examples from the web for toaster

Of course if you're a philosopher-writer, speculating on the quantum mysteries of the bread toaster would be a good read.
If these experiments pan out, the result won't yield a better toaster or solve the problems of climate change.
One-way interaction is possible now, marry your toaster.
When you heat up a bagel in the toaster, that's bagel warming.
We make everything from lasagna to popovers, albeit in small batches, and can broil even smaller batches in the toaster oven.
But compared to broiling, frying or microwaving your bread, you can't beat the convenient predictability of a toaster.
No car, no television set, not even a modern toaster works without some code.
The cartridge is then plugged into a toaster-sized reader controlled by a laptop computer.
The lawsuit should be filed against whoever created the toaster.
When both are out of the pan, drop two slices of bread into the toaster.

British Dictionary definitions for toaster

toaster

/ˈtəʊstə/

noun

a device for toasting bread, usually electric, and often equipped with an automatic timer

Word Origin and History for toaster

1580s, agent noun from toast (v.1). Electrical type is from 1913. In reference to a person who proposes or pledges a drinking toast, from 1704 (from toast (v.2)).

toaster in Technology

jargon
1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded microprocessor controller; often used in comments that imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology (but see elevator controller). "DWIM for an assembler? That'd be as silly as running Unix on your toaster!"
2. A very, very dumb computer. "You could run this program on any dumb toaster."
See bitty box, Get a real computer!, toy, beige toaster.
3. A Macintosh, especially the Classic Mac. Some hold that this is implied by sense 2.
4. A peripheral device. "I bought my box without toasters, but since then I've added two boards and a second disk drive".
This is not usually to be taken literally but, to show off the expansion capabilities of the Risc PC, Acorn Computers Ltd. built a seven-slice machine (which they called "the rocket-ship") and installed every imaginable peripheral. In a spare drive bay of the top slice they installed a toaster. This machine was exhibited at various shows where it attracted attention by occasionally ejecting a pizza.
[Jargon File]
(1997-07-18)