Link Centre Dictionary

juggle

UK/ˈd͡ʒʌɡəl/ US/ˈdʒʌɡʌl/ uncommon archaic dated
noun (2) verb (4)

noun

1.

the act of rearranging things to give a misleading impression

Synonyms
2.

throwing and catching several objects simultaneously

Synonyms

verb

1.
2.

manipulate by or as if by moving around components

  • “juggle an account so as to hide a deficit”
3.

deal with simultaneously

  • “She had to juggle her job and her children”
4.

throw, catch, and keep in the air several things simultaneously

Origin

From Middle English jogelen, partly a back-formation of Middle English jogeler (“juggler”), and partly a borrowing from Old French jogler, jongler (“to have fun with someone”), a conflation of Latin joculāri (“to jest; joke”) and Old French jangler (“to regale; entertain; have fun; trifle with; tease; mess around; gossip; boast; meddle”), from Frankish *jangalōn (“to chit-chat with; gossip”), akin to Middle Dutch jankelen (“to murmur; whisper; mumble; grumble”), frequentative of Middle Dutch janken (“to moan; groan; complain”). Related also to Middle Low German janken (“to sigh; moan; lament”), Dutch jengelen (“to whine; whimper”) Dutch janken (“to whine; wimper”).

Phrases

  • too many balls in the air

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.