1882. Ashton, Social Life, etc., ii. 35. 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.
1884. Century Mag., xxxviii. 856. One of the most earnest advocates of the measure said, Tis the toss of a copper.'
1885. D. Teleg., 23 Sep. There may have been instances where juries have 'tossed up' sooner than remain to convince an obstinate colleague.
1886. Field, 4 Sep. [It] looked a toss-up as to which would arrive home first.
1888. Kipling, Only a Subaltern. 'He'll do,' said the doctor quietly; 'it must have been a toss-up all through the night.'
See Blanket.
Toss-plume, subs. phr. (old).—A
braggart; a swaggerer.
Tossy, adj. (colloquial).—Off-hand;
careless: also tossily, adv.
1849. Kingsley, Yeast, vii. Argemone answered by some tossy commonplace. Ibid. She answered tossily enough.
Tossy-tail, adv. phr. (provincial).—Topsy-turvy
(q.v.).
Tostication, subs. (old).—Perplexity;
commotion: whence tosticated
= (1) restless, worried;
and (2) 'intoxicated': also tossicated.
See Toss, verb.
17[?]. Swift, Jour. to Stella [Century], I have been so tosticated about since my last that I could not go on in my journal manner.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa, iii. lxviii. I want those tostications (thou seest how women and women's words fill my mind) to be over . . . that I may sit down quietly, and reflect.
Tot, subs. (common).—1. Generic for anything small: spec. an endearment: e.g., a wee tot = a little child: cf. toddlekins. Also (2) a measure holding a gill; whence a nip or dram, a go (q.v.); as verb = to drink: see Tote.
1725. Ramsay, Gentle Shepherd [Works, ii. 81]. Sic wee tots toolying at your knee.
1868. Whyte Melville, White Rose, ii. i. He . . . often found himself pining for . . . the glare of the camp-fires, the fragrant fumes of the honey-dew, and the tot of rum.
1886. St. James's Gaz., 10 Sep. Haydn . . . liked company; but if a guest stayed beyond a certain period, the great composer would suddenly start up, tap his forehead and say, 'Excuse me, I have a tot'; by which he meant that he had a thought, and must go to his study to jot it down. A minute after he would return, looking all the brighter; and as forgetful as the Irish judge of La Rochefoucauld's maxim—that you may hoodwink one person, but not all the world. The expression, 'a tot of spirits,' is said to have had this respectable origin.
1900. Savage, Brought to Bay, vii. Raoul told a tale of a repentant mother's interest in the child which she had left as a wee tot of two.
1901. Walker, In the Blood, 294. Up came the children, wild-eyed, unkempt, dirty, ragged, yet brown, hardy, and active little tots.
3. See Tottery.
4. (common).—A bone: spec. (army) = kitchen refuse and (general) all kinds of waste, or marine store stuff. Hence totting = bone-picking, dust-heap sifting; tot-picker (or raker) = a scavenger. The Old Tots = the 17th Lancers; the 'Death or Glory' Boys: in allusion to the regimental badge of 'A Skull and Crossbones.'
1884. Greenwood, Little Ragamuffins. P'r'aps he's goin' a-tottin' (picking up bones).
1899. Wyndham, Queen's Service, 22. Anything . . . left on the tot, or bone, is the recognised perquisite of the orderly-man.
Verb. (colloquial).—(1) To count; to reckon: also to tot up (or tote). Also (2) = to wager all: cf. tote infra. Hence as subs. = an exercise in addition;
