Meaning

• Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.

  "Be careful of the ticket touts outside the arena, they are famed for selling counterfeits."

• A person, at a racecourse, who offers supposedly inside information on which horse is likely to win.

• A spy for a smuggler, thief, or similar.

• An informer in the Irish Republican Army.

Meaning

• To flaunt, to publicize/publicise; to boast or brag; to promote.

  "Mary has been touted as a potential succesor to the current COE."

• To look upon or watch.

• To spy out information about (a horse, a racing stable, etc.).

• To give a tip on (a racehorse) to a person, with the expectation of sharing in any winnings.

• 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.

• To act as a tout; to give a tip on a racehorse.

• To look for, try to obtain; used with for.