toss

/tɒs/

//tɒs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"toss" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“toss” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #8,220) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#8,220
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A throw, a lob, of a ball etc., with an initial upward direction, particularly with a lack of care.

Corpus desk

Index EN-toss · toss · English

toss · rank #8,220 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,220
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH thriller

Nearest frequency peer: thriller (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “toss”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “toss” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

toss vs TS
0% similar
toss vs toy
50% similar
toss vs tow
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for toss
PropertyValue
Headwordtoss
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɒs/
Letters4
Frequency rank#8,220
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “toss”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).tosslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “thriller” (#8,219), “transgender” (#8,221), “thirds” (#8,218). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “toss” is #8,220. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for toss is neighbouring look-alikes ("TS", "toy", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /tɒs/. Frequency #8,220 among 3,151 “T” headwords. 9 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for toss, with forms such as "otss", "tsos", and "ttoss". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "TS", "toy", "tow", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 … The correct English form is toss, spelled T-O-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A throw, a lob, of a ball etc., with an initial upward direction, particularly with a lack of care.
  2. 2
    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. 3
    A haughty throwing up of the head.
  4. 4
    Concern or consideration.
  5. 5
    A state of agitation; commotion.
  6. 6
    A measure of sprats.
  7. 7
    A handover from one presenter to another, announced by the first presenter.
  8. 8
    Nonsense; drivel.
  9. 9
    An act of masturbation.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how toss appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I don't give a toss about her.
  2. This put us at the board into a Tosse.

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.

This word in other languages

tiro(Español)jet(Français)Wurf(Deutsch)arremesso(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • otss
  • tsos
  • ttoss

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of toss - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

otss2tsos2ttoss1
Edit distance from "toss"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "toss"?
"toss" is spelled T-O-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /tɒs/.
What does "toss" mean?
As a noun, "toss" means: A throw, a lob, of a ball etc., with an initial upward direction, particularly with a lack of care.
What words are commonly confused with "toss"?
"toss" is commonly confused with "TS", "toy", "tow". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "toss"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "toss" is /tɒs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "toss"?
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 Middl... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "toss", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sung#8,213wool#8,228yang#8,229sack#8,200

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list