WordNet Dictionary- [n] a wooden peg or pin inserted into the eye at the end of rope in order to fasten it to something
- [n] a hinged switch that can assume either of two positions
- [n] any instruction that works first one way and then the other; it turns something on the first time it is used and then turns it off the next time
- [v] release by a toggle switch, of a bomb from an airplane
- [v] fasten with, or as if with, a toggle
- [v] provide with a toggle or toggles
Webster's 1913 Dictionary\Tog"gle\, n. [Cf. {Tug}.] [Written also {toggel}.]
1. (Naut.) A wooden pin tapering toward both ends with a
groove around its middle, fixed transversely in the eye of
a rope to be secured to any other loop or bight or ring; a
kind of button or frog capable of being readily engaged
and disengaged for temporary purposes.
2. (Mach.) Two rods or plates connected by a toggle joint.
{Toggle iron}, a harpoon with a pivoted crosspiece in a
mortise near the point to prevent it from being drawn out
when a whale, shark, or other animal, is harpooned.
{Toggle joint}, an elbow or knee joint, consisting of two
bars so connected that they may be brought quite or nearly
into a straight line, and made to produce great endwise
pressure, when any force is applied to bring them into
this position.
Computing DictionaryTo change a bit from whatever state it is in to the other state; to change from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1. This comes from "toggle switches", such as standard light switches, though the word "toggle" actually refers to the mechanism that keeps the switch in the position to which it is flipped rather than to the fact that the switch has two positions. There are four things you can do to a bit: set it (force it to be 1), clear (or zero) it, leave it alone, or toggle it.