coin toss
17
2.4
- noun
- /kɔɪn tɔs/
:
lanzamiento de moneda
- The team gathered around as the referee prepared for the coin toss to determine the start of the game.
And for most of us, that's what makes coin tossing random.
- And for most of us, that's what makes coin tossing random.
- It's once again close to a coin toss.
- So what we're going to do is we're going to have a mass coin toss.
- Oh, you would want to fight If you lost the coin toss and you got whacked first, you'd really be like, first of all, you'd probably be like just drop.
Examples
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Following the Senior Day ceremonies, Michigan won the coin toss and chose to defer to halftime.
Blog text (13) -
The Dolphins have won the coin toss and selected to defer.
Blog text (28) -
I need to talk to you about this coin toss thing.
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Gentlemen, join me for the coin toss.
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Let's do the coin toss.
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You know, I hardly ever lose a coin toss.
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Vice President Lewis won the coin toss.
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The Tigers lost the coin toss and were forced to shoot second.
Blog text (23) -
The Lions took the ball after winning the coin toss and quickly went three-and-out.
Blog text (18) -
After the pregame warm-ups were complete and the coin toss had taken place, we were ready to kick off.
Blog text (19)
Synonyms
33
1.0
An act of throwing a coin into the air to decide something
1
2.9
A way to decide between two options by flipping a coin
How Random
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an act of throwing a coin to decide' is directly derivable from combining 'coin' (a small round currency) with 'toss' (to throw), producing a literal noun phrase denoting that action. This compositional, cross-linguistically common pattern (e.g. 'lanzar una moneda' / 'pile ou face' equivalents) makes the phrase immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Coin toss comes from the simple act of throwing a coin into the air, a toss, and seeing whether 'heads' or 'tails' lands up. Because the result is by chance and seen as fair, people used it to 'decide' between two options, so the phrase now means a quick, fair way to choose.