Toss — Defs

01 v. t. To throw with the hand; especially, to throw with the palm of the hand upward, or to throw upward; as, to toss a ball.

imp. & p. p. Tossed; p. pr. & vb. n. Tossing

1.
To throw with the hand; especially, to throw with the palm of the hand upward, or to throw upward; as, to toss a ball.
2.
To lift or throw up with a sudden or violent motion; as, to toss the head.
“He tossed his arm aloft, and proudly told me, He would not stay.” — Addison.
3.
To cause to rise and fall; as, a ship tossed on the waves in a storm.
“We being exceedingly tossed with a tempest.” — Act xxvii. 18.
4.
To agitate; to make restless.
“Calm region once, And full of peace, now tossed and turbulent.” — Milton.
5.
Hence, to try; to harass.
“Whom devils fly, thus is he tossed of men.” — Herbert.
6.
To keep in play; to tumble over; as, to spend four years in tossing the rules of grammar.[Obs.]

Phrases & compounds

To toss off — to drink hastily.

To toss the cars — See under Oar, n.

02 v. i. To roll and tumble; to be in violent commotion; to write; to fling.

1.
To roll and tumble; to be in violent commotion; to write; to fling.
“To toss and fling, and to be restless, only frets and enrages our pain.” — Tillotson.
2.
To be tossed, as a fleet on the ocean.

Phrases & compounds

To toss for — to throw dice or a coin to determine the possession of; to gamble for.

To toss up — to throw a coin into the air, and wager on which side it will fall, or determine a question by its fall.

03 n. A throwing upward, or with a jerk; the act of tossing; as, the toss of a ball.

1.
A throwing upward, or with a jerk; the act of tossing; as, the toss of a ball.
2.
A throwing up of the head; a particular manner of raising the head with a jerk.