toss
part of speech
verb, noun (toss, tosses, tossed, tossing)
meaning for a pupil
1) To toss means to throw something lightly: toss the ball to me. tree →
2) A coin toss is throwing a coin to see which side lands up, heads or tails. tree →
3) To toss a salad is to mix it gently. tree →
4) To toss and turn is to move about in bed and not sleep. tree →
5) To toss something out is to throw it away. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: Used for waters heaving, a storm-beaten city, and a person hurled away like a ball as a punishment. Interpretation: Isaiah's "tossed with tempest" is read as a comfort to Jerusalem: after her suffering, God will rebuild her with precious stones. In the primary lessons: Maths: throws counted; coin tosses with chances: a coin has 2 sides, so heads and tails are equally likely; tails = tosses − heads. Sport: the toss decides who starts a game. Everyday: toss a pancake, toss the salad, «it's a toss-up» (either could happen).
examples
- Who is this like the Nile that riseth up, like the rivers whose waters toss themselves? (Prophets JER.46.7, JPS 1917) tree →
- O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. (Prophets ISA.54.11, JPS 1917) tree →
- He will violently roll and toss thee like a ball into a large country; there shalt thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, thou shame of the lord's house. (Prophets ISA.22.18, JPS 1917) tree →
- She tossed the ball 12 times. tree →
- He tosses a coin 10 times and gets 6 heads. tree →
- They tossed 3 bags into the bin. tree →
- How many tosses were tails? tree →
- The captain won the toss and chose to bat first. tree →
- Dad tossed the pancake high in the air. tree →
- I tossed and turned all night. tree →
- Toss the salad with a little oil. tree →
- He tossed it gayly to the boy. tree →
note
Regular: tossed; plural tosses. Counts throws. Trap: if heads and tails are both counted, tails = tosses − heads. Trap: past coin tosses do not change the next one; each toss is still a 1 in 2 chance.
In the corpora
- Who is this like the Nile that riseth up, like the rivers whose waters toss themselves?
- Think of a playground argument: you can toss a coin, or you can ask witnesses what they saw.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «toss» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.