different between toss vs launching

English

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /t?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /t?s/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /t?s/
• Rhymes: -?s

Noun

toss (plural tosses)

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.
6. (Billingsgate Fish Market slang) A measure of sprats.

Derived terms

• argue the toss

Translations

Verb

toss (third-person singular simple present tosses, present participle tossing, simple past and past participle tossed or (obsolete) tost)

1. To throw with an initial upward direction.

2. To lift with a sudden or violent motion.

   • He tossed his arm aloft, and proudly told me, / He would not stay.

3. To agitate; to make restless.
4. To subject to trials; to harass.

   • Whom devils fly, thus is he tossed of men.

5. To flip a coin, to decide a point of contention.

6. (informal) To discard: to toss out

7. To stir or mix (a 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.
10. (intransitive) To roll and tumble; to be in violent commotion.

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.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Ascham to this entry?)

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.

Derived terms

• toss one's cookies
• tosser
• toss off
• tosspot
• toss in
• toss up
• toss and turn
• tosticated

Translations

Anagrams

• OSTs, SSTO, osts, sots

English

Verb

launching

1. present participle of launch

Noun

launching (plural launchings)

1. The act by which something is launched; a launch.

   The launching of the Titanic.

   • 2010, Raymond Friedman, A History of Jet Propulsion, Including Rockets (page 123)

     By 1940 they had conducted 25 successful launchings of A5 rockets, which reached 10 miles altitude and had a range of 12 miles.

Usage notes

• Launch suggests an event at a point in time. Launching suggests a process over time.

Translations