Meaning & use
juggle
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To keep several objects in the air at once by throwing and catching them quickly.
Grammar: Can be used with an object (juggle balls) or without (he juggles well).
Patterns
- juggle something
- juggle with something
He can juggle five oranges without dropping any.
She learned to juggle when she joined the circus.
The clown juggled plates while riding a unicycle.
verbtransitive
To manage several tasks, roles, or responsibilities at the same time, often with difficulty.
Grammar: Takes an object, often plural: juggle two jobs. Can be used with 'with': juggle work with family.
Patterns
- juggle something
- juggle something with something
- juggle between something
Many parents juggle work and childcare.
She juggles a full-time job with evening classes.
He has to juggle three different projects this week.
verbtransitivedisapproving
To change figures or facts dishonestly in order to deceive people.
Grammar: Often used with 'accounts' or 'figures': juggle the books.
Patterns
- juggle the accounts
- juggle the figures
- juggle the books
The accountant was accused of juggling the company's accounts.
They juggled the numbers to make profits look higher.
He lost his job for juggling the books.
Word forms
| third person singular | juggles |
|---|---|
| past tense | juggled |
| past participle | juggled |
| -ing form | juggling |
Common combinations
- juggle work and family
- She tries to juggle work and family without getting exhausted.
- juggle with something
- He can juggle with knives safely.
- juggle the books
- The manager was caught juggling the books.
- juggle several tasks
- I have to juggle several tasks at once.
Synonyms and how they differ
- balance
- Balance suggests giving equal attention to different things; juggle emphasizes the difficulty and constant motion of managing them.
- manipulate
- Manipulate means controlling something skillfully, often unfairly; juggle is more about handling many things at once, sometimes dishonestly.
Opposites
Word family
- juggler noun
- A person who performs by keeping objects in the air.
- juggling noun
- The act of keeping objects in the air or managing many tasks.
Commonly confused: juggle or jog?
juggle vs jog
Jog means to run slowly; juggle means to throw and catch objects or manage tasks.
Practice
It's hard to ______ a full-time job with studying for a degree.
Choose one answer.
Juggle fits because it means managing two demanding things at once. Jog means running slowly, and judge means forming an opinion.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “juggle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.