Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🦃 A male turkey 🐈 A male cat 🙇 To act servile
to tom

to tom

1 9.9
To act too eager to please someone to gain an advantage
  • verb
  • Offensive
translation icon : hacer la pelota
  • You don't have to tom just to impress your boss.

Examples

  • She felt embarrassed when he started to tom in front of everyone.

  • He always tries to tom to get a promotion at work.

  • He went Tom, we can't do it lively.

Synonyms

to toady
vsto tom
1 9.1

Flatter and obey someone in power to get their favor

is slang, rare, and offensive rather than a neutral standard term

Compounds

Peeping Tom
  • NSFW
10 9.9

A person who secretly watches people, usually through windows, for sexual reasons

Tom Collins
3 4.6

A tall cold drink made with gin, lemon juice, sugar, and fizzy water served over ice

tom-tom
2 8.1

A round drum played in drum kits or at ceremonies

tom turkey
1 9.9

A male turkey

Tom and Jerry
  • US
1 9.9

A warm drink that has rum, brandy, sugar, and a beaten egg, often served at Christmas

long tom
  • Archaic
9.9

A large gun on a ship with a long barrel used in sea battles

Tom Thumb
9.3

A very small person used as a playful name

How Servile

to kowtow
12 9.2
to tom
  • Offensive
1 9.9
to grovel
42 7.4
to fawn
25 7.7
to flatter
100 3.6

Surface Forms

tom infinitive
tomed past
tomed past participle
toming present participle
toms third person singular

Etymology

Tom as a rare slang verb may come from using the name Tom for a man who tries too hard to please others, so a helpful way to remember it is to imagine a 'Tom' flattering his boss. That's why to tom means 'to act too eager to please'.