tod

Meanings

1. 1nounsingularBritishinformal

   Used only in the phrase 'on your tod': by yourself, without other people.

   Grammar: Always follows 'on' and a possessive: on his tod, on my tod.

   Patterns

   • on your tod
   • on someone's tod

   He went to the cinema on his tod.

   I'm on my tod tonight, so I'll just have toast.

   She did the whole project on her tod.

2. 2nouncountabledialectScottisharchaic

   A fox, in some northern English and Scottish dialects.

   Grammar: Countable dialect noun: a tod hunting at dusk.

   The shepherd saw a tod slinking past the barn.

   In the old rhyme, the tod steals the farmer's hen.

   Hunters used to call the animal a tod in parts of northern England.

3. 3nouncountablearchaicspecialist

   An old English unit of weight for wool, equal to about twenty-eight pounds.

   Grammar: Countable historic unit: three tods of wool.

   Patterns

   • a tod of wool

   The merchant bought two tods of wool at the market.

   Records show a tod of fleece cost a few shillings.

   A tod was once a standard measure in the wool trade.

Word forms

Common combinations

on your tod

I'd rather go on my tod than wait for them.

left on your tod

He was left on his tod at the party.

eating on your tod

She was eating on her tod at the cafe.

tod of wool

A tod of wool was weighed at the fair.

Synonyms and how they differ

alone

The neutral, universal word, while 'on your tod' is a cheerful British idiom.

on your own

Standard and widely understood, whereas 'on your tod' is regional slang.

solo

Suggests doing an activity by yourself on purpose, a bit more modern and formal.

Opposites

Word family

Tod Sloan proper noun

a jockey whose name gave the rhyming slang for alone

on your own phrase

the standard equivalent

todger noun

an unrelated British slang word, not for polite use

Commonly confused: tod or toad?

Practice

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