toss Hear it!

toss Definition

toss (tôs, täs)

transitive verb

  1. to throw or pitch about; fling here and there; buffet a boat tossed by a storm
  2. ☆ to mix lightly the parts or ingredients of (esp. a salad)
  3. to disturb; agitate; disquiet
  4. to throw (in various senses); specif., to throw upward, lightly and easily, from the hand
  5. to throw in or bandy (ideas, remarks, etc.)
  6. to lift quickly; jerk upward tossing her head in disdain
  7. to toss up with (someone for something): see phrase below

Etymology: prob. < Scand, as in Norw dial. tossa, to spread, strew; akin to MLowG tōsen, to tear, ME (to)tusen, to pull to pieces < IE base *dā(i)-, to part, tear > tease

intransitive verb

  1. to be flung to and fro; be thrown about or pitched about
  2. to fling oneself about in sleep, etc.; be restless in bed
  3. to move or go impatiently, angrily, or disdainfully, as with a toss of the head
  4. to toss up: see phrase below

noun

  1. a tossing or being tossed; a throw, fling, pitch, etc.
  2. tossup (sense )
  3. the distance that something is or can be tossed

toss Related Forms

toss′er noun

toss Idioms

toss off

  1. to make, do, write, etc. quickly, casually, and without effort
  2. to drink up in one draft

toss up

to toss a coin for deciding something according to which side lands uppermost

toss Synonyms

toss

v.

  1. To throw easily

    hurl, fling, cast; see throw 1.

  2. To move up and down

    bob, buffet, stir, move restlessly, tumble, pitch, roll, heave, sway, flounder, rock, wobble, undulate, swing, rise and fall; see also wave 3. See syn. study at throw.

toss Usage Examples

Object

  • caber: In fact, in the junior heavies, there were more girls prepared to toss the caber than there were boys!
  • coin: I may wind up having to toss a coin to decide.
  • pancake: I wonder how high we can toss this pancake.
  • grenade: Toss a smoke grenade into the fray and smoke slowly begins to billow outwards, until it consumes the entire area.
  • petal: Why settle for throwing ordinary rice when instead you can make the wedding so much more romantic by tossing rose petals?
  • salad: And how does he thank her for the tossed salad, he blasts his load deep into her mouth!

Converse of object

  • win: He won the toss, Gold Bats skipper Bob Miller not at all put out on being invited to bat.
  • lose: So we lost the toss and were inserted first up.

Preposition: into

salad: A few lakes, lagoons, gorges and mountain passes are then tossed into this scenic salad for extra garnish.

Modifying Another Word

  • carelessly: Flowers had been pulled from the wreaths and the marker cross carelessly tossed behind some other graves.
  • casually: The barbarian watched him, casually tossing his own dagger from one hand to the other.
  • overboard: Men are tossing overboard rafts, lifebelts, benches, pieces of wood, anything that will float.
  • gently: Add the beans, bacon and tomatoes to the dressing and toss gently.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • aside: Fishing boats came to rest, tossed aside like old shoes.
  • around: You will not be tossed around by every wind of doctrine.

Followed by a transitive particle

aside: They are the builders who tossed aside the stone that turned out to be the most important one of all.

Infinitive complement

decide: The Play A coin is tossed to decide who throws first.

Preposition: in

  • flour: Wash the filets clean, then toss in the seasoned flour to cover both sides.
  • butter: Baked or boiled beetroot can be sliced and tossed in butter and parsley or dill and served as an accompanying vegetable.

Preposition: of

coin: Will you stand by the toss of the coin?

Browse dictionary entries near toss

  1. ‹ tosh
  2. ‹ Toscanini, Arturo
  3. ‹ Toscanini
  4. ‹ Toscana
  5. ‹ ToS
  6. ‹ Tory
  7. ‹ Torvalds, Linus
  8. ‹ torus
  9. ‹ torula
  10. ‹ Toruń
  1. toss off ›
  2. toss-up ›
  3. tosspot ›
  4. tossup ›
  5. tost ›
  6. tostada ›
  7. tot ›
  8. total ›
  9. Total Access Communications System ›
  10. total asset turnover ›