toss up

British  

verb

1. to spin (a coin) in the air in order to decide between alternatives by guessing which side will fall uppermost

2. (tr) to prepare (food) quickly

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noun

1. an instance of tossing up a coin

2. informal an even chance or risk; gamble

Explanation

A toss-up is a situation that doesn't have one outcome or choice that's clearly better or more likely than another. If it seems like either basketball team could realistically win, you could call that game a toss-up. Your favorite ice cream flavor might be a toss-up between vanilla and strawberry. And if you two candidates for governor are running neck-and-neck, that's another kind of toss-up. The origin of this informal noun is unclear, but it may stem from the practice of tossing a coin to make a decision: "Let's do a toss-up to see who has to walk the dog. Heads I walk him, tails, you do."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

toss up

In a clip on his personal TikTok, Burnham, thanks to clever editing, appears to toss up a mortarboard hat and catch a builder's helmet, as he promotes technical education.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

Central and Northern California is more of a toss up in terms of precipitation, said Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist and manager at the Central Sierra Snow Lab.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2023

It’s a toss up between the windowless box I had before I moved here and this bizarre building that was meant to be flats but hadn’t quite met the standard.

From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2023

It’s a toss up on which look for the U.S. is more roundly despised by critics.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2022

I toss up a pitch and load my weight on my back leg the way Lolo taught me.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina