toss English · revision 15045

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=mid-15th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /tɒs/, US /tɑːs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain or unknown.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) It may be Scandinavian; compare [[no|tossa|t=to strew, spread]] in dialect.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To lift or throw upward with a sudden movement: the mid-15th century in Etymonline, before 1450 in Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad notes it was often used of the sea in early use.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To pitch up and down or about is from about 1500,^(Etymonline) to disquiet or agitate from the 1520s, and to toss and turn restlessly from the 1550s.^(Etymonline) The noun is from 1634,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) a toss of the head from the 1670s,^(Etymonline) and the toss of a coin from 1798.^(Etymonline) To toss a salad is by 1723.^(Etymonline) ''Toss-up'', a coin toss, is from before 1800, and an even chance from 1809.^(Barnhart 1988) In the negative, ''not to give a toss'', it is by 1876.^(Etymonline) Tossing someone in a blanket was an old way of showing dislike.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-15th century – to toss up.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1550s – to be restless.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1634 – a toss (noun).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1723 – to toss a salad.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1798 – the toss of a coin.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1809 – toss-up, an even chance.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To throw lightly or casually.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To throw or be thrown about: ''a ship tosses in a storm''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move about restlessly.^(AHD)

+ # To mix a salad lightly with dressing.^(AHD)

+ # To jerk the head upward or backward.^(AHD)

+ # To flip a coin to decide something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To discuss informally.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of tossing.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # An abrupt upward movement, as of the head.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The flipping of a coin to decide an issue.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tosser]]

+ * [[tossingly]]

+ * [[toss-up]]

+ * [[untossed]]

+ * [[tosspot]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In an obsolete Scots sense a toss was a toast, a beauty to whom toasts were drunk.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}