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bag

(băg)

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

b. A handbag; a purse.

c. A piece of hand luggage, such as a suitcase or satchel.

d. A pouchlike or sagging organ or part of the body, such as a cow's udder.

2. An object that resembles a pouch.

3. Nautical The sagging or bulging part of a sail.

4. The amount that a bag can hold.

5. An amount of game taken or legally permitted to be taken.

6. Baseball A base.

7. Slang An area of interest or skill: Cooking is not my bag.

8. Slang A woman considered ugly or unkempt.

v. bagged, bag·ging, bags

v.tr.

1. To put into a bag: bag groceries.

2. To cause to bulge like a pouch.

3. To capture or kill as game: bagged six grouse.

4. Informal

a. To gain; acquire: He bagged a profit from the sale.

b. To capture or arrest: was bagged for trespassing.

c. To accomplish or achieve: bagged a birdie with a long putt.

5. Slang

a. To fail to attend purposely; skip: bagged classes for the day and went to the beach.

b. To stop doing or considering; abandon: bagged the idea and started from scratch.

c. To terminate the employment of.

v.intr.

1. To pack items in a bag.

2. To hang loosely: The pants bag at the knees.

3. To swell out; bulge.

Phrasal Verb:

bag out

To quit or abandon an activity.

Idioms:

bag and baggage

1. With all one's belongings.

2. To a complete degree; entirely.

bag it Slang

1. To cease participating in an activity: Finally in disgust I told my debating opponent to bag it.

2. To bring along one's lunch, as in a paper bag: I don't like cafeteria food, so I always bag it.

in the bag

Assured of a successful outcome; virtually accomplished or won.

[Middle English bagge, from Old Norse baggi.]

bagful n.

bagger n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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