toss

American  

[taws, tos] / tɔs, tɒs /

verb (used with object)

• tosses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tossed,
  past participle,  past
• tost,
  past participle,  past
• tossing
  present participle

1. to throw, pitch, or fling, especially to throw lightly or carelessly.

   to toss a piece of paper into the wastebasket.

2. to throw or send from one to another, as in play.

   to toss a ball.

3. to throw or pitch with irregular or careless motions; fling or jerk about.

   The ship was tossed by waves.

4. to agitate, disturb, or disquiet.

5. to throw, raise, or jerk upward suddenly.

   She tossed her head disdainfully.

6. to speak or express in a sudden offhand manner; interject.

   He tossed jokes into their serious discussion.

7. to throw (a coin) into the air in order to decide something by the side turned up when it falls (sometimes followed byup ).

8. to toss a coin with (someone).

9. to stir or mix (a salad) lightly until the ingredients are coated with the dressing.

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verb (used without object)

• tosses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tossed,
  past participle,  past
• tost,
  past participle,  past
• tossing
  present participle

1. to pitch, rock, sway, or move irregularly, as a ship on a rough sea or a flag or plumes in the breeze.

2. to fling or jerk oneself or move restlessly about, especially on a bed or couch.

   to toss in one's sleep.

3. to throw something.

4. to throw a coin into the air in order to decide something by the way it falls (sometimes followed byup ).

5. to go with a fling of the body.

   to toss out of a room in a fit of anger.

noun

• tosses
  plural

1. an act or instance of tossing.

2. a pitching about or up and down.

3. a throw or pitch.

4. tossup.

5. the distance to which something is or may be thrown.

6. a sudden fling or jerk of the body, especially a quick upward or backward movement of the head.

verb phrase

1. toss up to vomit.

2. toss off

   1. to accomplish quickly or easily.

   2. to consume rapidly, especially to drink something up in one swallow.

      He tossed off a cocktail before dinner.

   3. British Slang. to masturbate.

idioms

1. toss one's cookies, cookie.

2. toss one's hat in the ring. hat.

toss British  

/ tɒs /

verb

1. (tr) to throw lightly or with a flourish, esp with the palm of the hand upwards

2. to fling or be flung about, esp constantly or regularly in an agitated or violent way

   a ship tosses in a storm

3. to discuss or put forward for discussion in an informal way

4. (tr) (of an animal such as a horse) to throw (its rider)

5. (tr) (of an animal) to butt with the head or the horns and throw into the air

   the bull tossed the matador

6. (tr) to shake, agitate, or disturb

7. to toss up a coin with (someone) in order to decide or allot something

   I'll toss you for it

   let's toss for it

8. (intr) to move away angrily or impatiently

   she tossed out of the room

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noun

1. an abrupt movement

2. a rolling or pitching motion

3. the act or an instance of tossing

4. the act of tossing up a coin See toss up

5. a fall from a horse or other animal

6. to wrangle or dispute at length

7. slang to be concerned or interested (esp in the phrase not give a toss )

toss More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing toss

• throw (toss) one's hat in the ring
• throw away (toss out)

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Synonym Usage

See throw.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tosser
  noun
• untossed
  adjective
• tossingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tosses
  plural

Participles

• tossing
  present
• tossed
  past
• tost
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• toss
  simple
• tosses
  simple
• have tossed
  perfect
• have tost
  perfect
• has tossed
  perfect
• has tost
  perfect
• am tossing
  progressive
• are tossing
  progressive
• is tossing
  progressive
• have been tossing
  perfect progressive
• has been tossing
  perfect progressive

Past

• tossed
  simple
• tost
  simple
• had tossed
  perfect
• had tost
  perfect
• was tossing
  progressive
• were tossing
  progressive
• had been tossing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will toss
  simple
• will have tossed
  perfect
• will have tost
  perfect
• will be tossing
  progressive
• will have been tossing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of toss

First recorded in 1595–1605; origin uncertain

Explanation

When you lightly throw something, you toss it. You might toss your lifejacket and backpack into a canoe before climbing in with the paddles. You can toss a baseball to your friend in the backyard, or toss your trash in a wastebasket when you're finished with lunch. You can also toss a coin or toss a salad. Another way to toss is to move back and forth — or thrash — like an insomniac in bed or a boat on a stormy ocean.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

toss tosses tossed tost tossing

Working with franchisees, chain officials diverted supply trucks and mobilized field teams to toss cases of lettuce linked to the outbreak.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

When Harry Brook won his third successive toss of the series, he could have scarcely imagined the start his two openers were going to put together.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Pour the mixture over the oyster crackers and toss until evenly coated.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026

Her ball toss went awry, her footwork was a step slower, and she was more agitated, at one point screaming in frustration after a netted forehand.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

I toss my cap and leap onto the fence.

From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner

However, with 55 runs required off the final 20 balls, Sutherland dispatched Georgia Elwiss for 23 runs, including sending two full tosses away for six, to drag Sunrisers back into the match.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

She delights in covering her hair with a white shirt she tosses over her shoulders with mock-Breck-ad delight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

In the glow of a ring light, he tosses off glib advice that might itself be worthless.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

Andie tosses a few flirtatious barbs across the checkout counter, inquiring if Blane will be paying with cash or an American Express Platinum card.

From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026

A blue-furred aboatia tosses an orange to Lala, who catches it without looking and uses the knife on her belt to peel it.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Then I tossed them in a bag and set them at the bottom of the stoop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

Similar to other leafy greens, lettuce leaves can be tossed, stirred and cooked in hot oil.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount Skydance, private equity firms RedBird and TPG, and Reddit co-creator Alexis Ohanian have also reportedly tossed their hats in the ring, setting up early sales meetings with Letterboxd.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026

"The bison hooked him with his left horn on his hip and tossed him in the air," Mike Macleod, who recorded the incident, told the Cowboy State Daily, a local paper.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Maybe there would be a breeze blowing through her hair as she tossed her head back but turned just a little to look at you.

From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott

His ships were tempest tost and scattered, and half of his cavalry horses and several of his guns had to be thrown overboard.

From The Student's Life of Washington; Condensed from the Larger Work of Washington Irving For Young Persons and for the Use of Schools by Irving, Washington

The sea is tost and the ship is lost, And deep is the sleep 'neath the Harbour-bar.

From The Coast of Bohemia by Page, Thomas Nelson

Always, with due comparison, By him let all that 's done be done; Troops, levies, and ambassadors, Treaties and taxes, wars and stores; No blunders or crude schemes are tost, Each enterprise repays its cost.

From Fables of John Gay (Somewhat Altered) by Gay, John

The miller dreams not at what cost The quivering mill-stones hum and whirl, Nor how for every turn, are tost Armfuls of diamond and of pearl.

From Poems of James Russell Lowell With biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole by Lowell, James Russell

When Mary was in her fits, if the witch but so much as laid her hand upon her she was tost and shaken fearfully.

From Witch Stories by Linton, E. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn)

Soccer’s velvety, polarizing honcho had the planet begrudgingly tossing confetti at his custom Stan Smiths.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

That includes her niece who has cleared the entire fridge of any produce, tossing it all into the rubbish, including what Michelle saw as a perfectly good watermelon.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Spread them on a sheet pan and bake at 400°F for 8 to 12 minutes, tossing once, until crisp and deeply golden.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

Emergency workers stood on the charred roof, still smelling of burning, sawing off damaged sections and tossing the debris into a pile.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

Natalie watched with sympathy as people dragged broken furniture and ruined carpets and sodden drywall from their shattered homes in the eighty-five-degree heat, tossing everything into growing junk piles in their yards.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz