Search

a container or receptacle of leather, plastic, cloth, paper, etc., capable of being closed at the mouth; pouch.
something resembling or suggesting such a receptacle.
a suitcase or other portable container for carrying articles, as in traveling.
a purse or moneybag.
the amount or quantity a bag can hold.
any of various measures of capacity.
a sac, as in an animal body.
an udder.
Slang. a small glassine or cellophane envelope containing a narcotic drug or a mixture of narcotics.
something hanging in a loose, pouchlike manner, as skin or cloth; a baggy part:
He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep.
Baseball. base1 (def 8b).
Hunting. the amount of game taken, especially by one hunter in one hunting trip or over a specified period.
Slang.

a person’s avocation, hobby, major interest, or obsession:
Jazz isn’t my bag.
a person’s mood or frame of mind:
The boss is in a mean bag today.
an environment, condition, or situation.

bags.

Informal. plenty; much; many (usually followed by of):
bags of time; bags of money.
Slang. trousers.

to swell or bulge:
A stiff breeze made the sails bag out.
to hang loosely like an empty bag:
His socks bagged at the ankles.
to pack groceries or other items into a bag.
to cause to swell or bulge; distend:
The wind bagged the curtain.
to put into a bag.
Informal. to kill or catch, as in hunting:
I bagged my first deer when I was a teenager.
Theater, clew (def 9a).
bags! British Slang. (used to lay first claim to something):
Bags it! Bags, I go first!
Slang. to quit, abandon, or skip:
I bagged my math class today. We’d better bag the deal. I was working too hard so I decided to bag it.
bag and baggage,

with all one’s personal property:
When they went to collect the rent, they found he had left, bag and baggage.
completely, totally:
The equipment had disappeared, bag and baggage, without even the slightest trace.

bag of bones, an emaciated person or animal.
bag of tricks, a supply of expedient resources; stratagems:
Maybe they will finally be honest with us, once they’ve run through their bag of tricks.
hold the bag, Informal. to be forced to bear the entire blame, responsibility, or loss that was to have been shared:
His accomplices flew to South America on news of the theft and left him holding the bag.
in the bag, Informal. virtually certain; assured; definite:
Her promotion is in the bag. The sale of the house is in the bag.
old bag, Slang. an unattractive, often slatternly woman:
a gossipy old bag.
Bachelor of Agriculture.
Contemporary Examples

Inside the bag, a second body was naked, wrapped in a towel, and almost decapitated.
Hong Kong’s High-Flying British Psycho Killer Suspect Nico Hines, Tom Sykes November 2, 2014

He couldn’t prove the bag was his and the police was called.
Murdoch Resignation Rumors Fly July 18, 2011

In her bag, police found chemicals that were sealed in jars.
Judging ‘JihadJane’ Richard Miniter March 16, 2010

A murse is the opposite; a bag where form is prioritized over function.
Rise of the Man Purse Isabel Wilkinson October 12, 2011

Words had been exchanged and the texter, Chad Oulson, had stood up and may have thrown a bag of popcorn.
The Movie Murder 911 Tape: Victim’s Last Breaths, With Shooter Nearby Michael Daly January 24, 2014

Historical Examples

Hoddan painstakingly fastened his bag to the saddle of the lead horse.
The Pirates of Ersatz Murray Leinster

Grace took out of her bag a guest towel she was embroidering.
Grace Harlowe’s Return to Overton Campus Jessie Graham Flower

To each of those who have been good he gives a present from his bag.
Our Holidays Various

That bag at his girdle is full of the teeth that he drew at Winchester fair.
The White Company Arthur Conan Doyle

He was out in a boat, and a bag of gunpowder he had with him exploded.
The Beginner’s American History D. H. Montgomery

noun
a flexible container with an opening at one end
Also called bagful. the contents of or amount contained in such a container
any of various measures of quantity, such as a bag containing 1 hundredweight of coal
a piece of portable luggage
short for handbag
anything that hangs loosely, sags, or is shaped like a bag, such as a loose fold of skin under the eyes or the bulging part of a sail
any pouch or sac forming part of the body of an animal, esp the udder of a cow
(hunting) the quantity of quarry taken in a single hunting trip or by a single hunter
(derogatory, slang) an ugly or bad-tempered woman (often in the phrase old bag)
(slang) a measure of marijuana, heroin, etc, in folded paper
(slang) a person’s particular taste, field of skill, interest, activity, etc: blues is his bag
(informal) bag and baggage

with all one’s belongings
entirely

a bag of bones, a lean creature
(slang) in the bag, almost assured of succeeding or being obtained
(informal) the bag of tricks, the whole bag of tricks, every device; everything
verb bags, bagging, bagged
(transitive) to put into a bag
to bulge or cause to bulge; swell
(transitive) to capture or kill, as in hunting
(transitive) to catch, seize, or steal
(intransitive) to hang loosely; sag
(transitive) to achieve or accomplish: she bagged seven birdies
(transitive) (Brit, informal) to reserve or secure the right to do or to have something: he bagged the best chair
(transitive) (Austral, slang) to criticize; disparage
n.

c.1200, bagge, from Old Norse baggi or a similar Scandinavian source; not found in other Germanic languages, perhaps ultimately of Celtic origin. Disparaging slang for “woman” dates from 1924 (though various specialized senses of this are much older). Meaning “person’s area of interest or expertise” is 1964, from Black English slang, from jazz sense of “category,” probably via notion of putting something in a bag.

To be left holding the bag (and presumably nothing else), “cheated, swindled” is attested by 1793. Many figurative senses are from the notion of the game bag (late 15c.) into which the product of the hunt was placed; e.g. the verb meaning “to kill game” (1814) and its colloquial extension to “catch, seize, steal” (1818). To let the cat out of the bag “reveal the secret” is from 1760.
v.

mid-15c., “to swell out like a bag;” also “to put money in a bag,” from bag (n.). Earliest verbal sense was “to be pregnant” (c.1400). Of clothes, “to hang loosely,” 1824. For sense “catch, seize, steal,” see bag (n.). Related: Bagged; bagging.

bag (bāg)
n.

An anatomical sac or pouch, such as the udder of a cow.

A container of flexible material, such as paper, plastic, or leather, that is used for carrying or storing items.

noun

The scrotum (1920s+)
A condom; rubber, scumbag (1950s+)
The cushionlike marker that serves as a base (mid-1800s+ Baseball)
A portion of narcotics, often wrapped in a paper or glassine envelope: They found three nickel bags of marijuana on him (1960s+ Narcotics)
A woman’s breast • Bag has long meant an animal’s udder (mid-1600s+)
An unattractive girl or woman; ugly woman (1920s+)
That which one prefers or is doing currently; kick, thing •Said to be fr bag of tricks (1950s+ Jazz musicians)
One’s preference; something suited to one’s preferences or talents: Archaeology is her bag, man
n environment; milieu; scene: That fox comes out of a very intellectual bag (1950s+ Jazz musicians)

verb

To get or capture: to bag a gold medal/ They bagged the mugger in the next block (1814+)
To arrest; bust, collar: You don’t have to bag nuns (1800s+)
To discharge; can, fire, sack: Just say the author was willing to bag an old friend (mid-1800s+)
To suppress; get rid of; discard: Let’s bag the whole notion, okay? (1960s+)
(also bag it) To avoid; not attend; skip: We can bag gym class/ Like bag this movie, for sure (1892+ Students)
(also bag it) To abandon; cease; give up: I had to bag it. I had to give up all that stuff (1980s+ Students)
To include; categorize; group with: We’re always bagged in England with bands like Iron Maiden (1960s+)
To break into for a clandestine investigation; do a black-bag job on: we picked up conversations by traveling execs, then ”bagged” their hotel rooms to rummage through attache´ cases (1990s+)
BAG ON someone (1990s+)
To inhale fumes of an intoxicating substance: the dangers of inhaling, sniffing, and ”bagging” such chemicals (1960s+ Narcotics)

Related Terms

brown-bag, dime bag, ditty bag, doggy bag, douche bag, fag bag, fleabag, grab-bag, hair bag, half in the bag, have a bag on, in the bag, jiffy bag, let the cat out of the bag, nickel bag, old bag, rum bag, sandbag, sleazebag, slimebag, stash bag, tie a bag on, windbag
busting a gut [laughing]
Bachelor of Agriculture

(1.) A pocket of a cone-like shape in which Naaman bound two pieces of silver for Gehazi (2 Kings 5:23). The same Hebrew word occurs elsewhere only in Isa. 3:22, where it is rendered “crisping-pins,” but denotes the reticules (or as R.V., “satchels”) carried by Hebrew women. (2.) Another word (kees) so rendered means a bag for carrying weights (Deut. 25:13; Prov. 16:11; Micah 6:11). It also denotes a purse (Prov. 1:14) and a cup (23:31). (3.) Another word rendered “bag” in 1 Sam. 17:40 is rendered “sack” in Gen. 42:25; and in 1 Sam. 9:7; 21:5 “vessel,” or wallet for carrying food. (4.) The word rendered in the Authorized Version “bags,” in which the priests bound up the money contributed for the restoration of the temple (2 Kings 12:10), is also rendered “bundle” (Gen. 42:35; 1 Sam. 25:29). It denotes bags used by travellers for carrying money during a journey (Prov. 7:20; Hag. 1:6). (5.) The “bag” of Judas was a small box (John 12:6; 13:29).

bag and baggage
bag it
bag of tricks