tosh
/tɑʃ/noun, verb, adjective, adverb
tosh is spelled T-O-S-H: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tosh means “Valuables retrieved from drains and sewers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tosh is toshes.
How many letters and syllables are in tosh?
| Letters | 4: T-O-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,912th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tosh?
Tosh appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tosh?
- UK /tɒʃ/
- US /tɑʃ/
- Australia /tɔʃ/
Tosh has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-tosh.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with tosh?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tosh from its last stressed vowel (/ɑʃ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: shot, host, hots.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tosh
- toshes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tush
- toshing participle, present
- toshed participle, past
- tosher comparative
- toshest superlative
- more tosh comparative
- most tosh superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tosh mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
UKobsoleteslangCopper; items made of copper.
- 2
UKrareslangValuables retrieved from drains and sewers.
- 3
UKslangRubbish, trash, (now especially) nonsense, bosh, balderdash
- 4
UKA bath or foot pan
A ‘tosh’ pan... is also provided.
- 5
derogatoryslangEasy bowling
Among the recent neologisms of the cricket field is ‘tosh’, which means bowling of contemptible easiness.
- 6
UKslangUsed as a form of address.
- 7
UKobsoleteslangA half-crown coin; its value
- 8
UKobsoleteslangA crown coin; its value
- 9
UKarchaicslangAny money, particularly pre-decimalization British coinage
verb
- 1
UKobsoleteslangTo steal copper, particularly from ship hulls
Toshing, a cant word for stealing copper sheathing from vessels' bottoms, or from dock-yard stores.
- 2
UKslangTo search for valuables in sewers
- 3
UKTo use a tosh-pan, either to wash, to splash, or to "bath"
- 4
ScotlandTo make ‘tosh’: to tidy, to trim.
Hoo she wad try to tosh up... her breest.
adjective
- 1
ScotlandobsoleteTight.
- 2
ScotlandNeat, clean; tidy, trim.
- 3
ScotlandComfortable, agreeable; friendly, intimate.
adverb
- 1
ScotlandToshly: neatly, tidily
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tosh in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense silly nonsense:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | conneries |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tosh come from?
From 19th-century British thieves' cant, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from *tarsh, a metathetic alteration of trash; or from toss. Sense of nonsense possibly influenced by tush (“nonsense! tsk tsk!”) attested from 15th century.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).