pitch and toss
Preserved but no longer current.
A game in which coins are pitched at a mark, the player getting nearest having the right to toss all the others' coins into the air and take those that come down with heads up. Hence, to play pitch and toss with one's money, prospects, etc., is to gamble recklessly, to play ducks and drakes.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “pitch and toss” mean?
A game in which coins are pitched at a mark, the player getting nearest having the right to toss all the others' coins into the air and take those that come down with heads up. Hence, to play pitch and toss with one's money, prospects, etc., is to gamble recklessly, to play ducks and drakes.
Is “pitch and toss” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.