juggle
Americanverb (used with object)
-
juggles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
juggled,
past participle, past
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juggling
present participle
-
to keep (several objects, as balls, plates, tenpins, or knives) in continuous motion in the air simultaneously by tossing and catching.
-
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.
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to alter or manipulate in order to deceive, as by subterfuge or trickery.
to juggle the business accounts; to juggle the facts.
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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.
verb (used without object)
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juggles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
juggled,
past participle, past
-
juggling
present participle
-
to perform feats of manual or bodily dexterity, as tossing up and keeping in continuous motion a number of balls, plates, knives, etc.
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to use artifice or trickery.
noun
verb
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to throw and catch (several objects) continuously so that most are in the air all the time, as an entertainment
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to arrange or manipulate (facts, figures, etc) so as to give a false or misleading picture
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(tr) to keep (several activities) in progress, esp with difficulty
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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jugglesimple
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jugglessimple
-
have juggledperfect
-
has juggledperfect
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am jugglingprogressive
-
are jugglingprogressive
-
is jugglingprogressive
-
have been jugglingperfect progressive
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has been jugglingperfect progressive
Past
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juggledsimple
-
had juggledperfect
-
was jugglingprogressive
-
were jugglingprogressive
-
had been jugglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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
Explanation
To juggle is to toss several items in the air and keep them moving from hand to hand, with at least one of them suspended at any given moment. Most beginners learn to juggle using balls or beanbags, not knives. A skilled juggler can juggle stuffed animals or oranges, or even knives and flaming torches. It's also possible to figuratively juggle, like when you juggle three jobs at once or juggle your responsibilities as a student, pet owner, and friend. In these examples, you manage several things at the same time. Juggle comes from the Old French jogler, "play tricks or sing songs," from the Latin root ioculari, "to jest."
Vocabulary lists containing juggle
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Example Sentences
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See Examples For:
With Conference League football to juggle, it seems improbable Brighton's squad can last the pace with the likes of Arsenal for the duration of the season.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
She's part of the so-called sandwich generation, those in midlife who have to juggle caring responsibilities for old and young while often working, too.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
How do you delegate the tasks you formerly did, lead former peers and juggle increased responsibilities?
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
And we get to eliminate a few million dollars of administrative costs from trying to juggle two different regulatory environments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
"I'd have an easier time teaching a wolf to juggle than you will training this au-rochs."
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Instead, she has been applying for part-time jobs to chip away at her $101,000 student-loan balance, which she juggles on top of her mortgage payments and other costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Darren juggles this with his job as a hospitality manager while Amanda left her job to look after her.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
Kardashian reacted with visible shock, saying the results “explain a lot” about her stress levels as she juggles a sprawling business empire, law studies, an aneurysm recovery, and a highly public personal life.
From Salon ● Nov. 29, 2025
Yu, who trains in Hebei and juggles swimming with her school work, took up the sport when she was six as a means of escaping China's searing summer heat.
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025
As the clock chimes, another ball joins the rest until at midnight he juggles twelve balls in a complex pattern.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
“Katie Zacharia had less than 24 hours to prepare for her inaugural briefing, as she juggled a cross-country move, and only received briefing materials this morning,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
For a couple of years, Trinidad juggled barber college, work at FedEx and missionary work through his L.A. church, Iglesia De Jesucristo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
At first, she juggled classes with Fusion Books, an online platform she’d started to help students to create and design yearbooks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Throughout her 20s, she juggled multiple cash-paying jobs, often working gruelling hours.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Millard removed his tuxedo so that he was completely invisible and juggled glass bottles.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
McDonald’s detailed the plans as it works to overhaul its menu, declutter its value offerings and hold on to customers who are juggling higher costs of living and have shied away from dining out.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
"The biggest challenge has been juggling clients who want their sites taken offline as a precaution, while trying to coordinate updates and fixes across countless different setups," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Rushing went through a learning curve juggling his defensive and offensive responsibilities, and navigating intense online scrutiny of his outbursts on the field and in the dugout.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
Navatek was juggling multiple proposals in South Carolina worth around $10 million, and it’s not clear which one Kao was describing.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
She bounces off the couch and over to the orange-and-blue FC Cincinnati mini soccer ball against the wall in the corner and starts juggling it with her feet.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
