tosh
Part of speech: noun
verb
adj
adv
Morphological type: simple
Topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
Etymology: From 19th-century British thieves' cant, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from *tarsh, a metathetic alteration of trash; or from toss.
Sense of nonsense possibly influenced by tush (“nonsense! tsk tsk!”) attested from 15th century.
Inflected forms:
form: toshes
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: tush
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: toshes
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: toshing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: toshed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: toshed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: tush
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: tosher
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: toshest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: more tosh
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: most tosh
pos: adv
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: Copper; items made of copper.
pos: noun
tags: UK
obsolete
slang
uncountable
examples: The sewer-hunters were formerly, and indeed are still, called by the name of "Toshers," the articles which they pick up in the course of their wanderings along shore being known among themselves by the general term "tosh," a word more particularly applied by them to anything made of copper.
gloss: Valuables retrieved from drains and sewers.
pos: noun
tags: UK
rare
slang
uncountable
examples: I am present engaged in fishing for tosh in the sewers of Blastburn.
gloss: Rubbish, trash, (now especially) nonsense, bosh, balderdash
pos: noun
tags: UK
slang
uncountable
examples: To think what I've gone through to hear that man! Frightful tosh it'll be, too.
Perhaps it helped a man into Parliament, Parliament still being a confused retrogressive corner in the world where lawyers and suchlike sheltered themselves from the onslaughts of common-sense behind a fog of Latin and Greek and twaddle and tosh.
‘Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore’s orders. Brought yeh ter this lot...’ ‘Load of old tosh,’ said Uncle Vernon.
gloss: A bath or foot pan
pos: noun
tags: UK
countable
examples: A ‘tosh’ pan... is also provided.
We call a tub a tosh.
gloss: Easy bowling
pos: noun
tags: derogatory
slang
uncountable
examples: Among the recent neologisms of the cricket field is ‘tosh’, which means bowling of contemptible easiness.
gloss: Used as a form of address.
pos: noun
tags: UK
humorous
slang
uncountable
examples: 'Ere, tosh, you bin at Cha'ham?
gloss: To steal copper, particularly from ship hulls
pos: verb
tags: UK
obsolete
slang
examples: Toshing, a cant word for stealing copper sheathing from vessels' bottoms, or from dock-yard stores.
gloss: To search for valuables in sewers
pos: verb
tags: UK
slang
uncommon
examples: You tend to the toshing, let Mester Hobday tend to the dealing.
gloss: To use a tosh-pan, either to wash, to splash, or to "bath"
pos: verb
tags: UK
examples: ‘Toshing’ was the name given to a punishment inflicted by the cadets on any one of their number who made himself obnoxious. The victim, dressed in full uniform, was forced to run the gauntlet of his brother cadets, who, as he passed, emptied the contents of their ‘tosh-cans’ (small baths holding about three gallons of water) over the wretched lad's head.
He toshed his house beak by mistake, and got three hundred.
gloss: Tight.
pos: adj
tags: Scotland
obsolete
examples: Tosh, tight, neat.
gloss: Neat, clean; tidy, trim.
pos: adj
tags: Scotland
examples: I gang ay fou clean and fou tosh
As a' the neighbours can tell.
gloss: Comfortable, agreeable; friendly, intimate.
pos: adj
tags: Scotland
examples: We were a very tosh and agreeable company.
gloss: Toshly: neatly, tidily
pos: adv
tags: Scotland
examples: Shouther your arms!—O! had them tosh on, And not athraw!
Synonyms: nonsense
Derived words: pish tosh
pish and tosh
toshing
toshy
tosh up
toshly
Translations: