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.

noun

1. A throw, a lob, of a ball etc., with an initial upward direction, particularly with a lack of care.
2. (cricket, soccer) The coin toss before a cricket match in order to decide who bats first, or before a football match in order to decide the direction of play.
3. A haughty throwing up of the head.
4. (British slang) A jot, in the phrase 'give a toss'.
   I couldn't give a toss about her.
5. (British slang) A state of agitation; commotion.
   This put us at the board into a Tosse. 1666-06-02, Samuel Pepys, Diary
   "We are all in a toss, in our neighborhood," said Mistress Pottle. 1845, Sylvester Judd, Margaret
6. (British slang, chiefly in the negative) concern or consideration.
   I don't give a toss.
7. (Billingsgate Fish Market slang) 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. 1834, Sir Charles William Pasley, “That the cubic foot is the smallest measure, which ought to be used in wholesale dealings in fish or fruit”, in Observations on the expediency and practicability of simplifying and improving the measures, weights and money, used in this country, without materially altering the present standards, page 96

verb

1. To throw with an initial upward direction.
   Toss it over here!
2. To lift with a sudden or violent motion.
   to toss the head
   "Over the bender," said Wisp, with a laugh, tossing his thumb over his left shoulder as he spoke. 1835, Charles Whitehead, The Autobiography of Jack Ketch, page 74
3. To agitate; to make restless.
4. To subject to trials; to harass.
5. To flip a coin, to decide a point of contention.
   We should toss for it.
   I'll toss you for it.
6. (informal, transitive) To discard; to throw away.
   I don't need it any more; you can just toss it.
7. To stir or mix (a salad).
   to toss a salad; a tossed salad.
8. (British slang) To masturbate
9. (transitive, informal) To search (a room or a cell), sometimes leaving visible disorder, as for valuables or evidence of a crime.
   John Orr had occasion to complain in writing to the senior supervisor that his Playboy and Penthouse magazines had been stolen by deputies. And he believed that was what prompted a random search of his cell for contraband. He was stripped, handcuffed, and forced to watch as they tossed his cell. 2003, Joseph Wambaugh, Fire Lover, page 258
   Rankin and Willingham, when they tossed his cell, they took Polaroids so they could get everything back in place. 2009, Thomas Harris, Red Dragon
   Hayes had watched him toss a room before. He had tapped walls, gotten down on his hands and knees and studied the floor, inspected books and lamps and bric-abrac. 2011, Linda Howard, Kill and Tell: A Novel
10. (intransitive) To roll and tumble; to be in violent commotion.
    tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep
11. (intransitive) To be tossed, as a fleet on the ocean, or as a ship in heavy seas.
12. (obsolete) To keep in play; to tumble over.
13. (rowing) To peak (the oars), to lift them from the rowlocks and hold them perpendicularly, the handle resting on the bottom of the boat.
14. (British slang) To drink in large draughts; to gulp.
    Their modest stole, to garish looser weed, / Deck'd with love-favours their late whoredoms' meed: / And where they wont sip of the simple flood, / Now toss they bowls of Bacchus' boiling blood, 1597, Joseph Hall, “Satire II”, in Satires, Chiswick: C. Whittingham, published 1824, page 7
15. (slang, usually as "toss one's cookies") To vomit.