to toss off
5
8.1
- phrasal verb
- /tɔs ɔf/
- Informal
- The astrologer went by the name "The Oracle," and his predictions were delivered breezily, tossed off with aristocratic class and ease.
Examples
-
She'd have to do some quick private cramming to identify that name and the others Emily had casually tossed off.
Fiction book (1992) -
Too bad the Kirkus review didn't seem to be saying that at all; the "too complex" thing seems to just be a tossed-off dismissal of every example of the medium except this one.
Blog text (24) -
In just a few minutes, she managed to toss off a quick email to her friend.
-
He was able to toss off a short story in just one afternoon.
-
After a quick brainstorming session, the team tossed off several creative ideas for the new campaign.
Synonyms
32
3.5
Make something quickly without much care or planning
13
6.1
Make something quickly with little effort
9
6.6
Make or finish something quickly with little effort
4
4.4
To write something quickly without much care
2
5.1
To write something quickly without much care
1
7.2
To make writing or music quickly without much care
1
4.1
To put words down quickly without much thought
1
7.3
To write something quickly without much effort
Antonyms
How Quickly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to produce something quickly and with little effort' is a metaphorical extension of 'toss' (to throw casually) with 'off' adding a sense of quick completion or detachment, so a learner who knows the parts could plausibly infer a casual/quick action. However, applying that casual throwing metaphor to producing writing or work is somewhat conventionalized and not fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Toss off for quick work may come from the idea of toss and off meaning to do something fast and lightly, as if you 'throw' a short note on a table. So it means 'to write or produce something quickly and with little effort'.