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¹bag

noun \ˈbag also ˈbāg\

: a container made of thin material (such as paper, plastic, or cloth) that opens at the top and is used for holding or carrying things

: a soft container carried by a woman and used to hold money and other small things (such as keys or makeup)

: a container used for carrying personal things (such as clothes) when you are going somewhere

Full Definition of BAG

: a usually flexible container that may be closed for holding, storing, or carrying something: as

a : purse; especially : handbag

b : a bag for game

c : suitcase

: something resembling a bag: as

a (1) : a pouched or pendulous bodily part or organ; especially : udder (2) : a puffy or sagging protuberance of flabby skin

b : a puffed-out sag or bulge in cloth

c : a square white stuffed canvas bag used to mark a base in baseball

: the amount contained in a bag

a : a quantity of game taken; also : the maximum legal quantity of game

b : an assortment or collection especially of nonmaterial things <a bag of tricks>

: an unattractive woman

: something one likes or does regularly or well; also : one's characteristic way of doing things

— in the bag

: sure, certain <her nomination was in the bag>; also : assured of a successful conclusion : sewn up <have the game in the bag>

slang : drunk 1a

See bag defined for English-language learners

See bag defined for kids

Origin of BAG

Middle English bagge, from Old Norse baggi

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to BAG

Synonyms: poke [chiefly Southern & Midland], pouch, sack

Other Clothing Terms

babushka, brogue, bumbershoot, cravat, dishabille, furbelow, layette, raiment, spectator

²bag

verb

: to put (something) into a bag

: to kill or catch (an animal) while hunting, fishing, etc.

: to get (something desired)

baggedbag·ging

Full Definition of BAG

intransitive verb

: to swell out : bulge

: to hang loosely

transitive verb

: to cause to swell

: to put into a bag

a : to take (animals) as game

b : to get possession of especially by strategy or stealth

c : capture, seize

d : to shoot down : destroy

: to achieve in or as if in competition : win <bag a play-off berth>

: to give up, forgo, or abandon especially for something more desirable or attainable <decided to bag her job and move to the country> —often used with it

— bag·ger noun

See bag defined for English-language learners

First Known Use of BAG

15th century

Related to BAG

Synonyms: bulge, balloon, beetle, belly, billow, bunch, jut, overhang, poke, pooch [chiefly dialect], pouch, pout, project, protrude, stand out, start, stick out, swell

Antonyms: miss

Synonym Discussion of BAG

catch, capture, trap, snare, entrap, ensnare, bag mean to come to possess or control by or as if by seizing. catch implies the seizing of something in motion or in flight or in hiding <caught the dog as it ran by>. capture suggests taking by overcoming resistance or difficulty <capture an enemy stronghold>. trap, snare, entrap, ensnare imply seizing by some device that holds the one caught at the mercy of the captor. trap and snare apply more commonly to physical seizing <trap animals> <snared butterflies with a net>. entrap and ensnare more often are figurative <entrapped the witness with a trick question> <a sting operation that ensnared burglars>. bag implies shooting down a fleeing or distant prey <bagged a brace of pheasants>.