Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To toss and catch (two or more objects) so that at least one of them is in the air at all times.
  • intransitive verb To have difficulty holding; balance insecurely.
  • intransitive verb To keep (more than two activities, for example) in motion or progress at one time.
  • intransitive verb To manipulate in order to deceive.
  • intransitive verb To juggle objects or perform other tricks of manual dexterity.
  • intransitive verb To make rapid motions or manipulations.
  • intransitive verb To use trickery; practice deception.
  • noun The act of juggling.
  • noun Trickery for a dishonest end.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A trick by legerdemain; an imposture; a deception.
  • To play tricks by sleight of hand; perform acts which make a show of extraordinary powers; practise legerdemain; conjure.
  • To play false; practise artifice or imposture.
  • To deceive by trick or artifice; impose upon by sleight of hand; trick.
  • noun A dialectal variant of joggle.
  • noun A block of timber cut to a length, either in the round or split.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To play tricks by sleight of hand; to cause amusement and sport by tricks of skill; to conjure; especially, to maintian several objects in the air at one time by tossing them up with one hand, catching them with the other hand, and passing them from the catching to the tossing hand.
  • intransitive verb To practice artifice or imposture.
  • transitive verb To deceive by trick or artifice.
  • transitive verb To maintain (several objects) in continuous motion in the air at one time by tossing them up with one hand, catching them with the other hand, and passing them from the catching to the tossing hand; variations on this basic motion are also used. Also used figuratively: see senses 3 and 4.
  • transitive verb colloq. To alter (financial records) secretly for the purpose of theft or deception.
  • transitive verb To arrange the performance two tasks or responsibilities at alternate times, so as to be able to do both
  • noun A trick by sleight of hand.
  • noun An imposture; a deception.
  • noun A block of timber cut to a length, either in the round or split.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To manipulate objects, such as balls, clubs, beanbags, rings, etc. in an artful or artistic manner. Juggling may also include assorted other circus skills such as the diabolo, devil sticks, hat, and cigar box manipulation as well.
  • verb To handle or manage many tasks at once.
  • noun juggling To throw and catch each prop at least twice, as a opposed to a flash.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb throw, catch, and keep in the air several things simultaneously
  • verb influence by slyness
  • noun the act of rearranging things to give a misleading impression
  • verb manipulate by or as if by moving around components
  • verb hold with difficulty and balance insecurely
  • verb deal with simultaneously
  • noun throwing and catching several objects simultaneously

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English jogelen, to entertain by performing tricks, from Old French jogler, from Latin ioculārī, to jest, from ioculus, diminutive of iocus, joke; see yek- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old French jangler, jogler, from Latin iocor ("I jest, I make a joke")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word juggle.

Examples

  • All I have to juggle is full time ministry over the summer months, fatherhood for twins, and being a good husband.

    Books 2009

  • What she's great at is something I now call juggle-tasking.

    Noah St. John: Moms, Mother's Day, and the Myth of Multi-Tasking 2009

  • Every fallacy of Confusion (it is almost unnecessary to repeat) will, if cleared up, become a fallacy of some other sort; and it will be found of deductive or ratiocinative fallacies generally, that when they mislead, there is mostly, as in this case, a fallacy of some other description lurking under them, by virtue of which chiefly it is that the verbal juggle, which is the outside or body of this kind of fallacy, passes undetected.

    A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive John Stuart Mill 1839

  • While she has struggled to "juggle" Brittany's innocence with a wild bisexual looseness, she has managed to make the duality relatable.

    Getting to Know Glee Scene Stealer Heather Morris 2010

  • While she has struggled to "juggle" Brittany's innocence with a wild bisexual looseness, she has managed to make the duality relatable.

    Getting to Know Glee Scene Stealer Heather Morris 2010

  • Now with the teachers having to kind of juggle their schedule and squeeze in other -- you know, squeeze in time on other days, he generally has to take away time from other subjects, if that's the case, too.

    CNN Transcript Jan 3, 2010 2010

  • Freestyle soccer is a style of play that requires players to "juggle" the ball with all parts of their bodies but their hands while performing tricks.

    Sports Snapshots 2008

  • "Where does the oil come from?" asked Vi, who had not asked a question since she had seen the waiter "juggle" the soup toureen.

    Six Little Bunkers at Cowboy Jack's Laura Lee Hope

  • Like so many others working moms Kristi struggles to "juggle" the demands of family and career.

    Celebrity Baby Blog Missy 2010

  • Like so many others working moms Kristi struggles to "juggle" the demands of family and career.

    Celebrity Baby Blog - People.com Missy 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Juggling with two or more balls is supposedly good for pianists. Or so I've heard.

    July 30, 2009