toss and turn

verb

To be unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position.

“I didn't get a wink of sleep. I was tossing and turning all night long.”

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Meanings

verbtoss and turn (third-person singular simple present tosses and turns, present participle tossing and turning, simple past and past participle tossed and turned)

present singular third person tosses and turns · participle present tossing and turning · participle past tossed and turned · past tossed and turned

  1. intransitiveTo be unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position.

    I didn't get a wink of sleep. I was tossing and turning all night long.

    1 more example

    for, after tossing and turning the greatest part of the night, and tormenting myself with the falsest notions and apprehensions of things, I fell, through mere fatigue, into a kind of delirious doze

    Fanny Hill

    1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC

Translations

Catalan remenar-se
  • remenar-sebe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
Dutch woelen
  • woelenbe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
Icelandic bylta sér
  • bylta sérbe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
Māori okeoke
  • okeokebe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
Russian воро́чаться, поворо́чаться
  • воро́чаться (voróčatʹsja)be unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
  • поворо́чаться (povoróčatʹsja)be unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
Spanish dar vueltas en la cama, revolverse
  • dar vueltas en la camabe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
  • revolversebe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
  • pasar la noche en duermevelabe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
  • pasar la noche en dormivelabe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
  • rodarbe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
  • rolarbe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
  • retorcersebe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
  • escrucarsebe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
Swedish vrida och vända
  • vrida och vändabe unable to settle into a comfortable sleeping position
Cite this entry
APA

toss and turn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toss%20and%20turn

MLA

“toss and turn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toss%20and%20turn. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “toss and turn,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toss%20and%20turn.

Source: toss and turn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.