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

One would be the one Angela’s cat-throwing stunt double would toss up into the arms of a cat wrangler hiding in the ceiling behind Oscar.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2024

If the questioner is asking who will be the closest team to Red Bull, right now that looks like a toss up between Ferrari and Mercedes, with Aston Martin next in line.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2024

Quiles said he expects the vote will be a toss up.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 12, 2022

“There are usually only one or two categories that are a little bit of a toss up, and here there’s a handful,” he said.

From Reuters • Sep. 9, 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