toss
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɒs/
ipa: /tɔs/
ipa: /tɑs/
rhymes: -ɒs
Forms: form: tosses
Etymology: 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.
Senses: glosses: A throw, a lob, of a ball etc., with an initial upward direction, particularly with a lack of care.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
soccer
sports
glosses: The coin toss before a cricket match in order to decide who bats first, or before a football match in order to decide the direction of play.
glosses: A haughty throwing up of the head.
examples: text: I don't give a toss about her.
glosses: Concern or consideration.
raw_tags: in the negative
examples: text: This put us at the board into a Tosse.
ref: 1666 June 2, Samuel Pepys, Diary:
text: "We are all in a toss, in our neighborhood," said Mistress Pottle.
ref: 1845, Sylvester Judd, Margaret:
glosses: A state of agitation; commotion.
examples: text: It will differ from the heaped measure of oysters, improperly called the peck, by about one-seventh part in excess, and from the toss of sprats by about one-third part in excess.
ref: 1834, Sir Charles William Pasley, “That the cubic foot is the smallest measure, which ought to be used in wholesale dealings in fish or fruit”, in Observations on the expediency and practicability of simplifying and improving the measures, weights and money, used in this country, without materially altering the present standards, page 96:
qualifier: Billingsgate Fish Market slang
glosses: A measure of sprats.
examples: text: The introduction would still be done by the Monitor host in New York's Studio 5B, followed by the toss to the newsperson in Washington.
ref: 2003, Dennis Hart, Monitor (Take 2) (page 87)
topics: broadcasting
media
glosses: A handover from one presenter to another, announced by the first presenter.
examples: text: Then I look again at this message. What a load of toss.
ref: 2012 February 16, Sean Thomas, Millions of Women are Waiting to Meet You: A Story of Life, Love and Internet Dating, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 101:
text: 'You were,' John said, with infinite love, 'talking such absolute toss.'
ref: 2018 June 28, Caitlin Moran, How to be Famous, Random House, →ISBN:
text: I always thought that the breathing thing was a load of toss, but it helped calm me big time.
ref: 2019 September 5, Brian Conaghan, The M Word, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:
glosses: Nonsense; drivel.
examples: text: And Uncle Frank is having a wank, And Auntie Floss is having a toss, With Grandad.
ref: 1983, N. G. N. Kelsey, quoting an anonymous playground song, Games, Rhymes, and Wordplay of London Children, Springer, published 2019, →ISBN, page 436:
text: This girl was a wank, a toss, something to be used over and over again, even when she was a pensioner; the pictures would be around till the next millennium.
ref: 2008 September 4, Martina Cole, Faces: A chilling thriller of loyalty and betrayal, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
text: Men don't chat about having a toss. We just don't. It's not comfortable.
ref: 2017 March 23, Mark Nethercote, A Time for Grace, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
glosses: An act of masturbation.
Derived terms: 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
ring toss
send for a toss
toss bombing
toss job
toss juggling
toss pillow
toss-up