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

However, they also said their boards would toss them out if they took their attention away from strategies to drive shorter-term gains.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Every offseason, the Hurricanes toss the keys to their program to a passer who just walked in the door.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

To try to avoid bringing it home with her after work, she’d toss all her clothes immediately into the dryer so the heat could kill any eggs that may have hitchhiked on her.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

As with the previous two Tests, Root declined to confirm his XI ahead of the toss, though the home side are expected to be unchanged.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

But as our pitcher prepped to toss, I started really sweating.

From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone

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

Nolan’s work is designed to bring out everyone’s inner critic and professor, but his execution of “The Odyssey” tosses us plenty of bones to pick.

From Salon ● 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

Richards tosses off one indelible riff after another, making “Rocks Off,” “Happy,” “Tumbling Dice” and “All Down the Line” rock and roll perfection.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

A juggler tosses globes of black and white and silver high into the air, where they seem to hover before falling again into his hands, his attentive spectators applauding.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

But remember that before Oppenheimer tossed us into the nuclear age, he pioneered modern theoretical physics in the United States.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

Staging da capo arias is always a challenge, and Ms. Griffin often fell into the trap of extremes—Mr. Brownlee and Mr. Costanzo tossed chairs around, leaped acrobatically onto furniture and ripped things up—or stasis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Three men removed the deceased from a body bag, which they tossed aside, before returning the corpse to the coffin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

It was then switched into a state that was almost unaffected by the magnetic field, allowing it to move freely under gravity, following a ballistic trajectory similar to a ball tossed into the air.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026

Still gripping Torak, he relieved him of his weapons and tossed them to the girl.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

In comes the brick-dust man, with grime o'erspread, And beats the collier and the barber—red: Black, red, and white in various clouds are tost, And in the dust they raise the combatants are lost.

From Familiar Quotations A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature by John Bartlett

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 John Gay

But "my state is so tost and weather-beaten, that it hath nowe no anchor-holde left to cleave unto."

From The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare by J. J. Jusserand

The grave Bavarian, midst his half year’s frost, Delights to keep thy ruby fins awake; And as in traffic’s maze his fancy’s tost, Light skims the icy surface of the lake.

From Nicotiana Or The Smoker's and Snuff-Taker's Companion by Henry James Meller

One wild gull in the offing lost, Wilder heart in my bosom tost.

From Sea Poems by Cale Young Rice

We spent many weekends sorting through all the photo albums and loose photos we’d amassed or inherited, tossing the duplicate pictures and trashing my dad’s slides that were impossible to view easily.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

In the end, it was Maye who made it happen, tossing a late touchdown with a brilliant one-handed catch by unheralded receiver Efton Chism III.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Maye has thrown only one touchdown pass so far this season after tossing 31 a year ago.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

"I was sort of standing up a lot and tossing books across the room and being really active. I was like, 'Wow, yeah, I didn't know I had it in me'."

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

Before her stretched a vast treeless waste, where heather and dwarf willow hugged the ground in a vain attempt to avoid the wind; where small peat-brown lakes shivered amid tossing marsh grass.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver