Expression: ...he toasted us...

[NinaZara]

Hello and good day,

I need help to fully understand the underlined expression in the following sentence.

Tasnim poured glasses of brandy - the smell alone could have killed a small animal - and he toasted us gallantly, his yellow-toothed smile wide and genuine.

I understand that "toasted" here is a verb and "us" is the object that is being toasted, but if I were to express a similar expression I would mostly be saying he toasted at us. Now, my question is, is putting "at" here sounds unnatural?(meaning, a native is most likely to say "he toasted us") Or does it change the meaning completely? Like, he toasted, at us, but not to us.

Thank you in advance.

Nina

[Conchita]

'Toast' is a transitive verb and takes a direct object without a preposition. It has the sense of drinking and wishing someone success:

Let's toast Nina's health in wine!

With 'toast' as a noun, you can use the preposition 'to':

Let's drink a toast to your future happiness!

[NinaZara]

Thank you very very much, Conchita :) . So I take it putting "at" here is wrong? But I have some more questions.

[Zubok]

Hi Nina,
Your little angle really impressed me. May she have a long cheerful life.

[Conchita]

[NinaZara]

[NinaZara]