tout

noun

1. Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.

   “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.'”

   “Damn, he's a tout.”

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.”

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.”

4. (archaic, colloquial)A spy for a smuggler, thief, or the like.
5. In the game of solo, a proposal to win all eight tricks.

verb

1. (transitive)To flaunt, to publicize/publicise; to boast or brag about; to promote.

   “Mary has been touted as a potential successor to the current CEO.”

   “China has touted its policy of non-interference for decades.”

   “For the 75 years since a district rebellion was put down, The Games have existed as an assertion of the Capital’s power, a winner-take-all contest that touts heroism and sacrifice—participants are called “tributes”— while pitting the districts against each other.”

   “Newspaper articles also were generally positive in tone, although a tendency towards sensationalism means that the spread of hybrid forms is occasionally touted as the universal language of the future.”

2. (UK, slang, transitive)To spy out information about (a horse, a racing stable, etc.).
3. (US, slang, transitive)To give a tip on (a racehorse) to a person, with the expectation of sharing in any winnings.
4. (UK, intransitive, slang)To spy out the movements of racehorses at their trials, or to get by stealth or other improper means the secrets of the stable, for betting purposes.
5. (US, intransitive, slang)To act as a tout; to give a tip on a racehorse.
6. (intransitive)To look for, try to obtain; used with for.

   “To understand the new London, I lived it. I slept rough with Roma beggars and touted for work with Baltic laborers on the kerb.”

7. (obsolete)To look upon or watch.

   “Nor durst Orcanes view the Soldan's face, / But still upon the floor did pore and tout.”