toss

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of throwing the ball to another member of your team

   Toss me the ball, I'm open.

2. 2
   noun

   an abrupt movement

   I tossed my head to get the hair out of my eyes.

3. 3
   verb

   agitate

   toss the salad

4. 4
   noun

   Concern or consideration.

   I don't give a toss about her.

5. 5
   noun

   A state of agitation; commotion.

   This put us at the board into a Tosse.

6. 6
   noun

   A measure of sprats.

   It will differ from the heaped measure of oysters, improperly called the peck, by about one-seventh part in excess, and from the toss of sprats by about one-third part in excess.

7. 7
   noun

   A handover from one presenter to another, announced by the first presenter.

   The introduction would still be done by the Monitor host in New York's Studio 5B, followed by the toss to the newsperson in Washington.

8. 8
   noun

   Nonsense; drivel.

   Then I look again at this message. What a load of toss.

Etymology

From Middle English tossen (“to buffet about, agitate, toss; to sift or winnow”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old Norse (compare dialectal Norwegian tossa, dialectal Swedish tossa (“to strew, spread”)), or perhaps from an alteration of Middle English tosen (“to tease, pull apart, shred; to wound, injure”). Compare also Dutch tassen (“to pile or heap up, stack”). The Welsh tos (“a quick jerk”) and tosio (“to jerk, toss”) are probably borrowed from the English.