Etymology : probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Swedish dialect tossa to spread, scatter
Pronunciation : 'tos, 'täs
Function : verb
Date : 1506
1. throw, pitch; flipping of a coin to decide a matter. throw, fling, pitch; roll, rock. toss\toss\ , v. t. [imp. & p. p. tossed ; (less properly tost ); p. pr. & vb. n. tossing.] [ w. tosiaw, tosio, to jerk, toss, snatch, tosa quick jerk, a toss, a snatch. ].
2. to throw with the hand; especially, to throw with the palm of the hand upward, or to throw upward; as, to toss a ball.
3. to lift or throw up with a sudden or violent motion; as, to toss the head. he tossed his arm aloft, and proudly told me, he would not stay.
4. to cause to rise and fall; as, a ship tossed on the waves in a storm. we being exceedingly tossed with a tempeat. --act xxvii.
5. 4. to agitate; to make restless. calm region once, and full of peace, now tossed and turbulent.
6. hence, to try; to harass. whom devils fly, thus is he tossed of men. erbert.
7. to keep in play; to tumble over; as, to spend four years in tossing the rules of grammar. [obs.].
8. To throw with the hand; especially, to throw with the palm of the hand upward, or to throw upward; as, to toss a ball.
9. To lift or throw up with a sudden or violent motion; as, to toss the head.
10. To cause to rise and fall; as, a ship tossed on the waves in a storm.
11. To agitate; to make restless.
12. Hence, to try; to harass.
13. To keep in play; to tumble over; as, to spend four years in tossing the rules of grammar.
14. To roll and tumble; to be in violent commotion; to write; to fling.
15. To be tossed, as a fleet on the ocean.
16. A throwing upward, or with a jerk; the act of tossing; as, the toss of a ball.
17. A throwing up of the head; a particular manner of raising the head with a jerk. an abrupt movement; "a toss of his head" agitate; "toss the salad".
18. 1. If you toss something somewhere, you throw it there lightly, often in a rather careless way. He screwed the paper into a ball and tossed it into the fire He tossed Malone a can of beer, and took one himself.
19. If you toss your head or toss your hair, you move your head backwards, quickly and suddenly, often as a way of expressing an emotion such as anger or contempt. `I'm sure I don't know.' Cook tossed her head Gasping, she tossed her hair out of her face. Toss is also a noun. With a toss of his head and a few hard gulps, Bob finished the last of his beer.
20. In sports and informal situations, if you decide something by tossing a coin, you spin a coin into the air and guess which side of the coin will face upwards when it lands. We tossed a coin to decide who would go out and buy the buns. Toss is also a noun. It would be better to decide it on the toss of a coin.
21. The toss is a way of deciding something, such as who is going to go first in a game, that consists of spinning a coin into the air and guessing which side of the coin will face upwards when it lands. Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat first.
22. If something such as the wind or sea tosses an object, it causes it to move from side to side or up and down. The seas grew turbulent, tossing the small boat like a cork As the plane was tossed up and down, the pilot tried to stabilise it.
23. If you toss food while preparing it, you put pieces of it into a liquid and lightly shake them so that they become covered with the liquid. Do not toss the salad until you're ready to serve Add the grated orange rind and toss the apple slices in the mixture Serve straight from the dish with a tossed green salad. see also:
toss-up.
24. disapproval If you say that someone argues the toss, you are criticizing them for continuing to argue for longer than is necessary about something that is not very important. They were still arguing the toss about the first goal.
25. emphasis If you say that you do not give a toss about someone or something, you are emphasizing that you do not care about them at all. Well, who gives a toss about sophistication anyway?.
26. If you toss and turn, you keep moving around in bed and cannot sleep properly, for example because you are ill or worried.