juggle

1 of 2

verb

jug·​gle ˈjə-gəl 

juggled; juggling ˈjə-g(ə-)liŋ 

intransitive verb

1

: to perform the tricks of a juggler

2

: to engage in manipulation especially in order to achieve a desired end

transitive verb

1

: to handle or deal with usually several things (such as obligations) at one time so as to satisfy often competing requirements

juggle the responsibilities of family life and full-time job

—Jane S. Gould

2

a

: to practice deceit or trickery on : beguile

b

: to manipulate or rearrange especially in order to achieve a desired end

juggle an account to hide a loss

3

a

: to toss in the manner of a juggler

b

: to hold or balance precariously

juggle

2 of 2

noun

: an act or instance of juggling:

a

: a trick of magic

b

: a show of manual dexterity

c

: an act of manipulation especially to achieve a desired end

Synonyms

Verb

• trick
• deceive
• fool

Noun

• ruse
• scheme
• trick
• dodge
• device
• fetch
• knack

Examples of juggle in a Sentence

Verb

He is learning to juggle.

He juggled four balls at once.

She somehow manages to juggle a dozen tasks at once.

It can be hard to juggle family responsibilities and the demands of a full-time job.

I'll have to juggle my schedule a bit to get this all to work out.

Noun

a temporary suspension of the gas tax was just a crowd-pleasing juggle that was not a long-term solution to the energy problem

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The Leadership Bottleneck in Action The bottleneck often appears in organizations that are scaling quickly, expanding into new markets, or juggling multiple strategic initiatives. —Brent Gleeson, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025

Inspired by Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Joanna Coles, The Bold Type ran for five seasons from 2017 to 2021, following Jane (Stevens), Kat (Aisha) and Sutton (Fahy), three work besties who juggle life, love and career while working at fictional women’s magazine, Scarlet. —Glenn Garner, Deadline, 3 Aug. 2025

Noun

This makes everything mom's juggle on a daily basis worth it. —Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 July 2025

The question is how to optimize the juggle of resources. —IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2010

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English jogelen, from Anglo-French jugler, from Latin joculari to jest, joke, from joculus, diminutive of jocus joke

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

1664, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for juggle

• jugal
• mughal
• smuggle
• snuggle
• struggle

Kids Definition

juggle

verb

jug·​gle

ˈjəg-əl

juggled; juggling

-(ə-)liŋ

1

: to keep several objects in motion in the air at the same time

2

: to do several things at the same time

juggling three jobs

3

: make changes to (something) in order to achieve a desired result

had to juggle my schedule

juggler

-(ə-)lər

noun