grab bag

noun

1
: a receptacle (such as a bag) containing small articles which are to be drawn (as at a party or fair) without being seen
2
: a miscellaneous collection : potpourri

Examples of grab bag in a Sentence

Congress has proposed a grab bag of tax cuts. the festival featured a grab bag of independent films from widely disparate genres
Recent Examples on the Web Well is Musgraves’s ability to take a grab bag of ingredients and references, and fold them effortlessly into the album’s (organic, wholegrain) dough so that the overall texture runs smooth. Liam Hess, Vogue, 16 Mar. 2024 Both sell a grab bag of typically low-cost and often random stuff directly from vendors that are mostly in China. Shira Ovide, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024 An ideological grab bag Organizers say the Expo was always designed as a clearing house for far out ideas but there have been times when its open-minded, anything-goes attitude has gone too far. Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2024 While this may seem like a grab bag of unrelated aspects of cognition, Vinod Menon, the director of the Stanford Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, recently theorized that all of these functions may be helpful in constructing an internal narrative. Nora Bradford, WIRED, 3 Mar. 2024 Everyone had a grab bag with their documents at hand, too. Oleksandr Chubko, New York Times, 29 Feb. 2024 There will also be a Spring Cleaning Yard Sale with shirts, cups, towels, ingredients, sprinkle blends, cookie decorating grab bags and kits, cake stands, dessert table decor and cookie cutters. Jessica Swannie, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024 But being able to improvise responses to one another’s songs in the moment from a vast grab bag of recorded music made the game of collective listening more playful. Tim Davis, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2024 The value of a player’s contract is often based on a grab bag of statistics coupled with hunches that his or her success will continue unimpeded by age, injury or bad luck. Ken Belson, New York Times, 11 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grab bag.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1855, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of grab bag was in 1855

Dictionary Entries Near grab bag

Cite this Entry

“Grab bag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grab%20bag. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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