toss 
II. intrnns. 1. To jerk or throw one's self 
about; roll or tumble about ; be restless or un- 
easy; fling. 
To (oss and fling, and to be restless, only frets and en- 
rages our pain. Tillotson. 
Sohrab alone, he slept not ; all night long 
He had lain wakeful, tossing on his bed. 
M. Arnold, Sohrab and Rustum. 
2. To be flung or rocked about; be kept in 
motion. 
Your mind is tossing on the ocean. 
Shale., M. of V., i. 1. 8. 
We left behind the painted buoy 
That tosses at the harbor-mouth. 
Tennyson, The Voyage. 
3. Same as to toss up (which see, below). 
They spend their time and what money they may have in 
tossing for beer, till they are either drunk or penniless. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II. 412. 
To toss up, to throw up a coin, and decide something by 
the side turned up when it falls. 
He tossed up whether he should hang or drown. The 
coin fell on its edge in the clay, and saved his life for that 
time. 
J. Ashlon, Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, II. 35. 
The catcher of the senior nine tossed up, and the juniors 
were sent to the bat. St. Nicholas, XVII. 944. 
toss (tos), n. [< ME. toss (rare); < toss, v .] 1. 
A sudden fling or jerk; especially, a quick 
movement of the head backward or upward. 
There is hardly a polite sentence in the following dia- 
logues which does not absolutely require some . . . suit- 
able toss of the head. Swift, Polite Conversation, Int. 
Anon, with toss of horn and tail, . . . 
They leap some farmer's broken pale. 
WhMier, The Drovers. 
2. A pitch ; a throw : as, the toss of a ball or a 
coin. 3. The distance over which one tosses 
anything; a throw. 
No 2 Brick Court, Middle Temple, . . . was but a bis- 
cuit toss from Crown Office Row. 
B. E. Martin, Footprints of Charles Lamb, i. 
4. A state of agitation or excitement ; a com- 
motion. 
Lord ! what a tosse I was for some time in, that they 
could not justly tell where it [the buried gold] was. 
Pepys, Diary, Oct. 10, 1667. 
"We are all in a toss in our neighborhood," said Mis- 
tress Pottle. S. Judd, Margaret, ii. 5. 
5. A toss-up : with reference to a case in which 
chance decides. 
One of the most earnest advocates of the measure said, 
"'Tis the toss of a copper." The Century, XXXVIII. 866. 
6. The mow or bay of a barn into which grain 
is put preparatory to threshing. Halliwell. 
[Prov. Eng.] Pitch and toss. See pitch-and-toss. 
To win the toss, to win in a case decided by the toss- 
ing up of a coin ; hence, in general, to have luck on one's 
side ; gain the day. 
Lordynges, now ye have herd 
Off these tounes hou it ferd ; 
How Kyng Richard with his maystry 
Wan the toss off Sudan Turry. 
Richard Coer de Lion (Weber's Metr. Rom., II. 170). 
Hasn't old Brooke won the toss, with his lucky halfpenny, 
and got choice of goals? 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, i. 5. 
tossel 1 (tos'l), it. An obsolete or dialectal form 
of tasseP-. 
tossel' 2 (tos'l), n. InarcJi.jS&meastorsel. Gicilt. 
tosser (tos'er), n. [< toss + -er 1 .] One who 
or that which tosses : as, a tosser of balls. 
tossicated, a. See tosticated. 
tossily (tos'i-li), adv. In a tossy manner; 
pertly; with affected indifference, careless- 
ness, or contempt. [Colloq.] 
She answered losstty enough. 
Kingsley, Yeast, vii. (Dames.) 
tossing (tos'ing), n. [Verbal n. of toss, v.] The 
act or operation of one who or that which tosses ; 
specifically, a mining process (also called chim- 
ming) which consists in dressing ores by the 
method described under toss, v, t.,3. 
tossment (tos'ment), n. [< toss + -ment.'] The 
act of tossing, or the state of being tossed. 
Sixteen years tossment upon the waves of this trouble- 
some world. 
J. B. Worcester's Apophthegmes, p. 108. (Encyc. Diet.) 
toss-plumet (tos'plom), n. [< toss, v., + obj. 
plume.] A swaggering fellow. Halliwell. 
toss-pot (tos'pot), n. [Formerly also tospot; 
< toss, v., + obj. pot 1 .] A toper; a tippler. 
After that setiennights fast is once past, then they re- 
turne to their old intemperancie of drinking, for they are 
notable tospots. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 253. 
A good part he drank away (for he was an excellent 
toss-pot). Lamb, Two Races of Men. 
tOSS-Up (tos'up), n. The throwing up of a coin 
to decide something, as a wager or a choice ; 
hence, an even chance ; a case in which con- 
ditions or probabilities are equal. [Colloq.] 
6398 
What is the use nf counting on any success of mine? 
It is a mere toss up whether I shall ever do more than 
keep myself decently. George Eliot, Middlemarch, Ixxxiii. 
"He'll do," said the Doctor quietly. "It must have 
been a toss-up all through the night." 
R. Kipling, Only a Subaltern. 
tossy (tos'i), a. [< toss + -f/1.] Tossing; espe- 
cially, tossing the head as in scorn or contempt ; 
hence, affectedly indifferent ; pert ; contemptu- 
ous. [Colloq.] 
Argemone answered by some tossy commonplace. 
Kingsley, Yeast, vii. (Davics.) 
tossy-tail (tos'i-tal), adv. Topsyturvy. Halli- 
well. [Prov. Eng.] 
tost (tost). Another spelling of tossed, preterit 
and past participle of toss. 
tostamente (tos-ta-men'te), adv. [It., < tos- 
to, quick, bold.] In music, quickly; rapidly. 
[Rare.] 
tostartt, v. i. [ME. tosterten; ,< to- 2 + starfl.] 
To start or spring apart; burst. 
Lo, myn herte, 
It spredeth so for joie, it wol tosterte. 
Chaucer, Troilus, ii. 980. 
tosticated, tossicated (tos'ti-, tos'i-ka-ted), a. 
[A reduction of intoxicated, and confused, in 
def. 2, with toss, tossed, tost.~\ 1. Intoxicated. 
[Colloq.] 2. Tossed about; restless; per- 
plexed. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
I have been so tosticated about since my last that I could 
not go on in my journal manner. 
Swift, Journal to Stella, xlviii. 
tostication (tos-ti-ka'shon), n. [< tosticat(ed) 
+ -ion.'] The state of being tossed about; com- 
motion; disturbance; perplexity. [Prov. Eng.] 
After all, methinks, I want those tostications (thou seest 
how women, and women's words, fill my mind) to be over 
happily over, that I may sit down quietly and reflect. 
Richardson, Clarissa Harlowe, III. Ixviii. 
tosundert, v. i. [ME. tosondren; < to- 2 + sun- 
der 1 , v.] To go to pieces; split. 
The fyry welkne gan to thundir, 
As thou the world schulde alle tosondre. 
dower, MS. Soc. Antiq. 134, f. 91. (HalliweU.) 
toswapt, v. t. [ME. toswappen; < to- 2 + swap.'] 
To smite heavily. 
So fuersly in fight fellis cure knightes, 
Alto sicappon vs with swerdes & with swym strokes. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 9561. 
toswinkt, v. i. [ME. toswinken; < to- 2 + swink.] 
To toil excessively ; labor hard. 
In erthe, in eir, in water men to-swinke 
To gete a glotoun deyntee mete and drinke. 
Chaucer, Pardoner's Tale, 1. 57. 
tosy (to'zi), a. [<tose + -i/!.] Teased, as wool ; 
hence, woolly ; soft. Also tozy. Bailey, 1731. 
tot 1 (tot), n. [< Icel. tottr = Dan. tot, a nick- 
name of a dwarf . Cf. ft'* 3 .] 1. Anything small 
or insignificant; especially, a small child: used 
as a term of endearment. 
Now, Jenny ! can there greater pleasure be 
Than see sic wee tots toolying at your knee? 
Ramsay, Gentle Shepherd (Works, II. 81). 
2. A drinking-cup holding about half a pint; 
also, a small quantity; especially, when applied 
to liquor, as much as makes a draught or dram. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
He had no society of any kind, and often found himself 
pining for . . . the glare of the camp-fires, the fragrant 
fumes of the "honey dew," and the tot of rum that passed 
from beard to beard. Whyte Melville, White Rose, II. i. 
3. A foolish fellow. [Prov. Eng.] 
tot 2 (tot), n. [< L. tot, so much, so many; by 
some explained as an abbr. of L. totes, or E. 
total, all. Cf. toft, v., tote 3 , v.'] 1. Originally, 
so many ; so much : formerly written opposite 
an item in an account to indicate that the debt 
was good. The full expression is given as tot 
pecunise regl debetur, so much money is due to 
the king. 
Totted, A Term us'd in the Exchequer, when the foreign 
Opposer, or other Officer, has noted a good Debt to the 
Queen as such, by writing the word Tot to it. 
E. Phillips, World of Words, 1706. 
2. An exercise in addition ; a sum. [Colloq.] 
Graduated Exercises in Addition (Tots and Cross Tots, 
Simple and Compound). Athenseum, No. 3268, p. 767. 
tot 2 (tot), v. t. ; pret. and pp. totted, ppr. totting. 
[ME. fatten; < to* 2 , n. Cf. tote 3 .] 1. To mark 
(an account or a name) with the word fat: as, 
to fat an item in a bill. See to< 2 , n., 1. 
Sir, ther arn xv. jurores abowe to certifle ye, as many 
as ye will ; but lete these men that be tottid be certified, 
for thei be the rewleris. Paston Letters, I. 55. 
2. To count up; add; sum: usually with up. 
[Colloq.] 
These totted together will make a pretty beginning of 
my little project, 
H. Brooke, Fool of Quality, II. 211. (Davies.) 
totalization 
Seventeen hundred and twenty-five goes of alcohol in 
a year ; we totted it up one night at the bar. 
Thackeray, A Night's Pleasure. 
tota (to'ta), H. [Native name.] A monkey: 
same as grivet. 
total (to'tal), a. and n. [< ME. total!, < OP. (and 
F.) total = Sp. Pg. total = It. totals = G. total, 
< ML. totalin, entire, total (summa totalis, the 
sum total, the whole amount), < L. totes, whole, 
entire.] I. a. 1. Pertaining to or constituting 
a whole or the whole ; being or taken together ; 
undivided. 
So many there are of them in the Citadel! that I think 
the Mall number of them is at the least two hundred. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 125. 
As the total tonnage fof Venetian merchant vessels] is 
but 26,000, it may be inferred that they are small craft. 
Howells, Venetian Life, xvi. 
2. Comprising the whole ; lacking no member 
or part ; complete ; entire. 
One Day Jove 
Sent Hermes down to Ida's Grove, 
Commanding Cupid to deliver 
His Store of Darts, his total Quiver. 
Prior, Mercury and Cupid. 
The total grist unsifted, husks and all. 
Cowper, Task, vi. 108. 
Then we dipt in all 
That treats of whatsoever is, the state, 
The total chronicles of man. 
Tennyson, Princess, ii. 
3. Complete in degree; absolute; unqualified; 
utter: as, a total change; total darkness. 
O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, 
. Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse 
Without all hope of day ! Milton, S. A., 1. 81. 
It is a temporary, not a total retreat, such as we may 
leave off or resume. Bp. Attertmry, On Mat. xiv. 23. 
4f. Summary ; concise ; curt. 
Do you mean my tender ears to spare, 
That to my questions you so total are? 
Sir P. Sidney (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 549). 
Constructive total loss. See constructive. Total ab- 
stinence, entire abstinence from intoxicants. Total 
cause. See cause, l. Total curvature, degree, de- 
pravity, differential, differentiation. See the nouns. 
Total earth. Same as dead earth (which see, under 
earthi). Total eclipse, an eclipse in which the whole 
surface of the eclipsed luminary is obscured. Total 
method, ophthalmoplegia, part, residual, term, etc. 
See the nouns. Total reflection. See refraction, 1. 
= Syn. 1-3. Whole, Entire, etc. See complete. 
II. n. The whole; the whole sum or amount ; 
an aggregate. 
A tapster's arithmetic may soon bring his particulars 
... to a total. Shak., T. and C., i. 2. 124. 
total (to'tal), v. t. ; pret. and pp. totaled, totalled, 
ppr. totaling, totalling. [< total, n.~\ 1. To bring 
to a total ; accumulate ; sum ; add : sometimes 
with up. 
The sum 365 is correct when totalled ; but the mode in 
which it is obtained is vitiated by two anomalies. 
N. and Q., 7th ser., XI. 135. 
Prices, numbers, and dates are all clearly tabulated and 
totalled up for us. The Engineer, LXV. 467. 
2. To reach a total of ; amount to. 
86 small craft, . . . totalling 500 tons, were bnilt of 
wood. The Engineer, LXV. 6. 
totalist, n. [ML. totalis, in summa totalis, the 
sum total: see total. .] The sum total; the 
whole amount. 
Cast your eye only upon the totalis, and no further ; 
for to traverse the bill would betray you to be acquainted 
with the rates of the market. 
Dekker, Gull's Hornbook, p. 163. 
totalisation, totaliser, etc. See totalization, 
etc. 
totality (to-tal'i-ti), 11. [= F. totalite = Pr. 
totaUtftt = Sp. iotalidad = Pg. totalidade = It. 
totalita, < ML. fatalita(t-)s, < totalis, total: see 
total.'] 1. The state or character of being a 
total; entirety. 
There was no handle of weakness to take hold of her by ; 
she was as unseizable, except in her totality, as a billiard- 
ball. 0. W. Holmes, Professor, iii. 
2. That which is total; a whole; an aggre- 
We must love him with all our heart, mind, and soul ; 
with a threefold totality. Rev. T. Adams, Works, III. 266. 
It is absolutely impossible to explain a living or, indeed, 
a self-efficient totality of any kind by means of the aggre- 
gation of elementary constituents or forces. 
E. Montgomery, Mind, IX. 370. 
3. In astron., the period during which an eclipse 
is total ; the time of total obscuration. 
The coppery hue after the commencement of totality 
was of a duller tint than usual. 
Athenseum, Feb. 4, 1888, p. 150. 
totalization (t6"tal-i-za'shon), n. [< totaU-f + 
-ation.] The act or process of totalizing, or the 
state of being totalized. Also spelled totalisa- 
tion. 
