toss around

toss around

1. To hurl, fling, or cast someone or something from place to place or back and forth. A name, noun, or pronoun can be used between "toss" and "around." We went outside to toss a football around. The huge waves tossed us around while we were out on the open sea.
2. To discuss something, especially in an informal, hypothetical, or noncommittal fashion. A noun or pronoun can be used between "toss" and "around." We tossed around a few plans for how we could reinvigorate interest in our product. Let's toss the idea around at our next meeting.
3. To move around restlessly from one position to another. That fever kept me tossing around in bed all night. The child wouldn't sit still, tossing around in his seat from the boredom.
See also: around, toss
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

toss someone or something around

to throw someone or something around. The waves tossed him around and almost dashed him on the rocks. The waves tossed around all the little boats.
See also: around, toss

toss something around

Fig. to discuss something. I have a few things to discuss. Can we meet later and toss them around? We tossed around a few ideas after dinner.
See also: around, toss
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

toss around

or toss about
v.
1. To throw something back and forth casually: We went to the park and tossed around a football. Bring the baseball to the park so we can toss it around.
2. To change one's position restlessly while lying in bed: The patient tossed about in her sleep. I tossed around all night and didn't get any sleep.
3. To discuss something informally; bandy something about: We've been tossing around the idea of moving to a warmer climate. They tossed the proposal about at the meeting, but no one was interested.
4. To move about restlessly; twist and turn: The ship tossed about in the high seas.
5. To throw, fling, or heave someone or something continuously about; pitch someone or something to and fro: The violent storm tossed the ship about. The luggage got tossed around in the trunk of the car.
See also: around, toss
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • haul around
  • lift down
  • ditch (some place)
  • jerk (someone or something) out of (something or some place)
  • jerk out of
  • in place of (something)
  • look around
  • look around some place
  • ferry
  • ferry around
References in periodicals archive
If they want supporters of single-payer like me to jump on the UHV bandwagon, they need to do more than toss around scornful rhetoric about "liberal sugarplums." They need to show hard evidence that there in fact is a sizable dement of corporate America which, while rejecting single-payer, is ready to make a genuine commitment to UHVs.
Universal health vouchers
Among endless past examples, Hedda Hopper played herself in "Sunset Blvd." Unfortunately, she and Gloria Swanson didn't get a chance to toss around any softballs, literal or otherwise.
'Four' play for journos
Add garlic, apricots and almonds and toss around for one minute.
CHICKEN AND ROSE PETAL PILAFF
So Rich came up with a plate that a baby can't toss around, because it's attached to the table with a Velcro-clad clamp.
Platepal
Toss around some floor pillows and empty milk crates for extra seating casual-style.
A night to remember: think setting out a bowl of Doritos, cranking up the tunes and stringing streamers in the basement add up to party time? Neh
According to Professor Matthew Roller, chair of the Department of Classics at The Johns Hopkins University (this writer's alma mater, to toss around another Latin phrase), the formulation eventually settled upon by the editorial staff here -"caveat corvum"--would translate to "let him (or her) beware of the crow." This form, the volitive subjunctive, "is what Latin uses in place of the third-person imperative, which it (more or less) doesn't have," Professor Roller said in an email.
Latin 101
He finished in a respectable four hours 15 minutes - winning him an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the fastest senior pancake toss around the marathon.
Marathon marvel Dale proves he's still flippin' fit
My advice to the fat-deprived yuppies who are now watching their fortunes melt away: Take a break from the markets and go out and get yourself a bacon cheeseburger and fries or, if you still have a few bucks to toss around, a nice pancetta-rich plate of spaghetti carbonara.
Low-fat capitalism. (Flip Side)
Take the campus-wide games of tag that took place for a half hour on Fridays during lunch, or the red rubber balls that we toss around. During meetings and public speaking engagements, I use the balls as symbols of the chase for the dream.
Vary your voice: Nike's resident "Katalyst" is helping employees at all levels to embrace the company's vision, and in turn extend the brand. (Cover Story)
He then wrote on his editorial page, "We've been hearing complaints for some time that major firms, with lots of money to toss around, have come to unfairly dominate current PR awards programs.
Simplicity and recognizing the "little guy" inspire newsletter's awards
The 50-plus crowd has cash to toss around online," says Corlett, who adds the caveat, "They have no problem going right back to those brick-and-mortar stores if the online experience falls short".
50+ Web surfers
So three cheers for Crasset, who's come up with something interesting and fun: an edition of modular furniture, each set comprising sixteen of these things, foam-stuffed, that you can toss around to form armchairs, couches, tables, beds, even whole conversation pits.
Lisa Liebmann
Big clouds, usually formed after it's hot, toss around raindrops.
Thunderbolts & lightning: very, very frightening
Nine months after his surgery, Adam Johnson of Nassau, Bahamas used the arm to toss around a baseball during a news conference held June 21 at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Fla.
Surgeons use cadaver bone to save 6-year-old boy's cancerous arm
Nine months after surgery, Adam Johnson, from Nassau in the Bahamas, was using the arm to toss around a baseball at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida.
New arm for cancer boy