grab bag

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word grab bag. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word grab bag, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say grab bag in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word grab bag you have here. The definition of the word grab bag will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofgrab bag, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: grabbag and grab-bag

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (file)

Noun

grab bag (plural grab bags)

  1. A gift, purchase, etc. whose contents are concealed until after a selection is made.
    Winners can choose a gift from the grab bags on the table.
  2. (figurative) Any random assortment, selection or possibility.
    Synonym: mixed bag
    With that system, it's a grab bag which files we can find at any moment.
    • 2015, Mark Ribowsky, Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars:
      There were now a grab bag of southern country-rock units with a new wrinkle—Black Oak Arkansas, for one, combined psychedelia, fifties rock, Hindu spiritualism, and gospel into “psycho-boogie,” or “raunch 'n' roll.”
    • 2020 August 18, James Poniewozik, “A D.N.C. Opening Night for the New Abnormal”, in The New York Times:
      There was no location, really — most of the convention took place in a Milwaukee of the mind. [] Instead, the teleconvention kept a few standards (like the Bruce Springsteen–soundtracked montage) and borrowed from a grab bag of other TV formats, from talk show to cable news to reality-TV reunion special.
    • 2023 July 10, Zachary Woolfe, “Review: Ted Hearne’s Sweet, Sad American Elegy”, in The New York Times:
      While this piece is less scattered than Hearne’s most recent major work, “Place,” a deeply personal reflection on gentrification, “Farming,” too, feels like a grab bag into which there’s always assumed to be room for yet one more idea.
  3. A moderately large bag of crisps or other snack, intended for sharing.
  4. A bag containing essential items, which can be easily picked up and taken in an emergency.
    Synonyms: bug-out bag, go bag

See also