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juggle

[juhg-uh l]
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verb (used with object), jug·gled, jug·gling.
  1. to keep (several objects, as balls, plates, tenpins, or knives) in continuous motion in the air simultaneously by tossing and catching.
  2. to hold, catch, carry, or balance precariously; almost drop and then catch hold again: The center fielder juggled the ball but finally made the catch.
  3. to alter or manipulate in order to deceive, as by subterfuge or trickery: to juggle the business accounts; to juggle the facts.
  4. to manage or alternate the requirements of (two or more tasks, responsibilities, activities, etc.) so as to handle each adequately: to juggle the obligations of job and school.
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verb (used without object), jug·gled, jug·gling.
  1. to perform feats of manual or bodily dexterity, as tossing up and keeping in continuous motion a number of balls, plates, knives, etc.
  2. to use artifice or trickery.
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noun
  1. the act or fact of juggling.
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Origin of juggle

1350–1400; Middle English jog(e)len < Old French jogler to serve as buffoon or jester < Late Latin joculāre to joke (replacing Latin joculārī), equivalent to Latin jocul(us) (joc(us) joke + -ulus -ule) + -āre infinitive suffix
Related formsjug·gling·ly, adverbout·jug·gle, verb (used with object), out·jug·gled, out·jug·gling.un·jug·gled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

shufflealtertrimmaneuverhumbugdoctorconjurefixmodifychangedisguisebeguilebetraybluffmisrepresentmanipulatedeludedouble-crossillude

Examples from the Web for juggle

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Would you wish by trick or quibble to juggle me out of these last acres?

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • Wally reached out, and took the bullet from him that he might juggle it curiously in his own fingers.

    Good Indian

    B. M. Bower

  • But somebody produced a slipstick and began to juggle it expertly.

    Sand Doom

    William Fitzgerald Jenkins

  • He wants to show you how you can juggle ore so you can save everything but the smell.

  • I am sure there is some juggle here: hang me, if I think he is an Italian after all.

    The Lady of Lyons

    Edward Bulwer Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for juggle

juggle

verb
  1. to throw and catch (several objects) continuously so that most are in the air all the time, as an entertainment
  2. to arrange or manipulate (facts, figures, etc) so as to give a false or misleading picture
  3. (tr) to keep (several activities) in progress, esp with difficulty
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noun
  1. an act of juggling
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Derived Formsjugglery, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Old French jogler to perform as a jester, from Latin joculārī to jest, from jocus a jest
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for juggle

v.

late 14c., "entertain by clowning or doing tricks," back-formation from juggler and in part from Old French jogler "play tricks, sing songs," from Late Latin ioculare (source of Italian giocolare), from Latin ioculari "to jest" (see jocular). Related: Juggled; juggling.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper