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What is the verb for making objects on a plate jump up and down?

English Language Learners Asked on October 1, 2021

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A plate contains some objects of variety shapes. These objects could be dice or any stones.

You hold the plate with your hands and rotate your wrists up and down and thus make the plate moves up and down accordingly, which make the objects jump up and down.

DO you say "I am tossing the objects in the plate"?

2 Answers

I am jiggling the objects on the plate:

Free Dictionary

verb (used with or without object), jig·gled, jig·gling. to move up and down or to and fro with short, quick jerks. noun a jiggling movement.

jiggle

You can only bounce softish objects on a plate, like a rubber ball. Not a hard object.

Hard objects such as stones and die cannot be bounced on a plate. They can be jiggled on a plate.

Correct answer by Lambie on October 1, 2021

It depends on what the objects are, the thing they're located in, and how many times it is done.

If it happens multiple times, you might be bouncing the objects:

[Merriam-Webster, from bounce]
transitive
2 : to cause to rebound or be reflected
    // bounce a ball
    // bounce a light ray off a reflector

intransitive
1 : to rebound or reflect after striking a surface (such as the ground)

// He was bouncing a tennis ball against the garage door.
// bouncing the ball back and forth

In this example in the sentence, in is not the correct preposition. There are two others you can use:

  • I am bouncing the objects on the plate.
  • I am bouncing the objects against the plate.

It depends if you want to emphasize where the objects are (on) or what they are rebounding from (against).


But if it's dice on a plate, and you do it only once, then you would say the following:

I am rolling the dice on the plate.


If what you're describing is cooking, then you would use a different verb and prepositions, and it would be somewhat contextual.

  • I am flipping eggs [with a frying pan].
  • I am flipping pancakes [with a frying pan].

      but

  • I am tossing salad [in a bowl].

Generally, you flip things with a frying pan, but you toss things in a bowl.

Answered by Jason Bassford on October 1, 2021

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