catchall

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noun, often attributive catch·all \ ˈkach-ˌȯl , ˈkech- \

Definition of catchall

:something that holds or includes odds and ends or a wide variety of things

a catchall tray

dyspepsia is a catchall term for stomach discomfort

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Examples of catchall in a Sentence

They used the drawer as a catchall for kitchen items.
“The arts” is a catchall for a variety of activities from painting to music.

Recent Examples of catchall from the Web

In fact, though, #War is a catchall phrase around Breitbart's nondescript and unadvertised headquarters in West Los Angeles.

— paul bond, The Hollywood Reporter, "Steve Bannon Returns to Breitbart: "Trump Presidency That We Fought For, and Won, Is Over"," 18 Aug. 2017
More important, President Richard M. Nixon seemed incapable of putting Watergate — a catchall term for the White House’s involvement in political espionage, break-ins and subsequent cover-ups — behind him.

— jon meacham, New York Times, "‘I Have Passed the Point of Reacting’: How the Watergate News Cycle Reads Today," 2 July 2017
Here in San Francisco Bay, the catchall name for the estuary, humans have changed the shoreline and ecology since the Spanish explorer Portola set eyes on it in 1769 and brash chancers swarmed to the Gold Rush in 1849.

— National Geographic, "How the Bay Area Is Restoring Nature's Delicate Balance," 13 June 2017
Obama's $787 billion package was not an infrastructure bill, but a catchall response to a deep recession, with infrastructure as a significant part.

— cleveland.com, "Donald Trump's dodgy data on health care, stimulus: AP Fact Check," 8 June 2017
A crib is a catchall term for any bed with four sides.

— by sarah bahari photo by ross hailey, star-telegram.com, "Why parents of newborns shouldn’t spend money to ‘cute up’ the crib," 7 June 2017
LeEco, a catchall name for a variety of businesses controlled by the internet tycoon Jia Yueting, poses little threat by itself to China’s financial system.

— ryan mcmorrow, New York Times, "Here’s How a Chinese Tech Firm Borrowed $2.1 Billion in a Hurry," 3 June 2017
Beyond not trying to be a catchall company, Netflix views its platform as ideal for binge watching on-demand material.

— jennifer van grove, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Netflix CEO: Amazon is Walmart, we're Starbucks," 31 May 2017
ICOs are possible thanks to blockchain, the catchall term for a digital ledger that promises incorruptible storage of financial transactions.

— camila russo, Bloomberg.com, "The Hottest New Way of Investing in Silicon Valley Comes With a Big Catch," 24 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'catchall.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of catchall

1838

CATCHALL Defined for English Language Learners

catchall

play

noun

Definition of catchall for English Language Learners

: something that holds or includes many different things

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