Link Centre Dictionary

toss

UK/tɒs/ US/tɔs/ common british informal slang uk
verb (6) noun (3)

verb

1.

throw or toss with a light motion

  • “flip me the beachball”
  • “toss me newspaper”
Synonyms
2.

lightly throw to see which side comes up

  • “I don”
Synonyms
3.

throw carelessly

  • “chuck the ball”
Synonyms
4.

move or stir about violently

  • “The feverish patient thrashed around in his bed”
Synonyms
5.
6.

agitate

  • “toss the salad”

noun

1.

the act of flipping a coin

Synonyms
2.

(sports) the act of throwing the ball to another member of your team

  • “the pass was fumbled”
Synonyms
3.

an abrupt movement

  • “a toss of his head”

Origin

From Middle English tossen (“to buffet about, agitate, toss; to sift or winnow”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old Norse (compare dialectal Norwegian tossa, dialectal Swedish tossa (“to strew, spread”)), or perhaps from an alteration of Middle English tosen (“to tease, pull apart, shred; to wound, injure”). Compare also Dutch tassen (“to pile or heap up, stack”). The Welsh tos (“a quick jerk”) and tosio (“to jerk, toss”) are probably borrowed from the English.

Phrases

  • argue the toss
  • basket toss
  • chuck and toss
  • full toss
  • give a toss
  • go for a toss
  • on the toss of a coin
  • pitch and toss
  • toss a bone to
  • toss a coin
  • toss and turn
  • toss around

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Entails

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.