toss up

verb

To make a decision based on chance, for example by flipping a coin or rolling a dice.

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Meanings

verbtoss up (third-person singular simple present tosses up, present participle tossing up, simple past and past participle tossed up)

present singular third person tosses up · participle present tossing up · participle past tossed up · past tossed up

  1. intransitiveTo make a decision based on chance, for example by flipping a coin or rolling a dice.
  2. intransitiveTo throw something upwards.
  3. transitiveTo produce, generate.
  4. InternettransitiveTo post or upload.

    Restless in quarantine, she began posting videos on Instagram, one of which got picked up by Barstool, the popular sports blog. […] Then she tossed up a few on TikTok, notably one in which she faux-naively referred to Houston Street in New York, which is pronounced How-ston, as Hew-ston.

    2023 March 14, Alexandra Jacobs, “Your Annoying Roommate Is Slaying on TikTok”, in The New York Times
  5. transitiveTo cook or prepare something quickly.
  6. transitiveTo casually mention as an idea.
  7. slangTo vomit.

    He began to vomit. Retching violently, he tossed up first the swaddled stone that he had eaten in the belief that it was Zeus, and then he vomited up Zeus's elder brothers and sisters […]

    1997, Lee Hall, Athena: A Biography, page 15
  8. slangTo beat up, thrash.

    He got in a fight last night and got tossed up.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
mentionmovetouch

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 孤注一掷
  • 孤注一掷 (gū zhù yì zhí)to make a decision based on chance
Italian tirare a sorte
  • tirare a sorteto make a decision based on chance
Cite this entry
APA

toss up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toss%20up

MLA

“toss up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toss%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “toss up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toss%20up.

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