Word
juggle
Phoneticsjug·gle
US/ˈdʒəɡəɫ/
UK/dʒˈʌɡəl/
Definition
v. to keep several objects in the air at once by catching and throwing them. You can also use this to describe handling many different tasks or responsibilities at the same time.
v. to perform a feat of manual dexterity by keeping several objects in motion in the air simultaneously. Often used figuratively to describe the management of multiple competing tasks or obligations.
Examples
“He learned to juggle three oranges during the summer break.”
“Many working parents have to juggle a full-time career with the demands of raising young children.”
“The project manager had to juggle the expectations of the stakeholders while simultaneously navigating a series of unforeseen technical hurdles that threatened the final deadline.”
Examples
simple
“He learned to juggle three oranges during the summer break.”
contextual
“Many working parents have to juggle a full-time career with the demands of raising young children.”
complex
“The project manager had to juggle the expectations of the stakeholders while simultaneously navigating a series of unforeseen technical hurdles that threatened the final deadline.”
Usage
The verb is both transitive and intransitive; when used figuratively, it often takes a direct object representing tasks or roles.
Real-World Examples
“Can you really juggle a job and study for a degree?” “They do worry about how they’ll also take care of themselves and how they’ll juggle everything.” Etymology
From Middle English jogelen, partly a back-formation of Middle English jogeler (“juggler”), and partly a borrowing from Old French jogler, jongler (“to have fun with someone”), a conflation of Latin joculāri (“to jest; joke”) and Old French jangler (“to regale; entertain; have fun; trifle with; tease; mess around; gossip; boast; meddle”), from Frankish *jangalōn (“to chit-chat with; gossip”), akin to Middle Dutch jankelen (“to murmur; whisper; mumble; grumble”), frequentative of Middle Dutch janken (“to moan; groan; complain”). Related also to Middle Low German janken (“to sigh; moan; lament”), Dutch jengelen (“to whine; whimper”) Dutch janken (“to whine; wimper”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/juggle