See grab bag in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "Literal sense",
"forms": [
{
"form": "grab bags",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "grab bag (plural grab bags)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "15 31 9 20 25",
"word": "grab box"
},
{
"_dis1": "15 31 9 20 25",
"word": "let the cat out of the bag"
},
{
"_dis1": "15 31 9 20 25",
"word": "mixed bag"
},
{
"_dis1": "15 31 9 20 25",
"word": "blackball"
},
{
"_dis1": "15 31 9 20 25",
"word": "lucky dip"
},
{
"_dis1": "15 31 9 20 25",
"word": "pick 'n' mix"
},
{
"_dis1": "15 31 9 20 25",
"word": "pig in a poke"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "11 15 33 13 28",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Bags",
"orig": "en:Bags",
"parents": [
"Containers",
"Tools",
"Technology",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Winners can choose a gift from the grab bags on the table.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A gift, purchase, etc. whose contents are concealed until after a selection is made; a bag as gift that comprises mystery prizes."
],
"id": "en-grab_bag-en-noun-en:bag_as_gift_that_comprises_mystery_prizes",
"links": [
[
"gift",
"gift"
],
[
"purchase",
"purchase"
],
[
"conceal",
"conceal"
],
[
"selection",
"selection"
],
[
"mystery",
"mystery"
],
[
"prize",
"prize"
]
],
"senseid": [
"en:bag as gift that comprises mystery prizes"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "mystery bag"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "11 15 33 13 28",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Bags",
"orig": "en:Bags",
"parents": [
"Containers",
"Tools",
"Technology",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Coordinate term: grab box"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A bag from which a gift or prize may be withdrawn (grabbed) unseen."
],
"id": "en-grab_bag-en-noun-en:bag_from_which_a_gift_may_be_withdrawn",
"links": [
[
"bag",
"bag"
],
[
"gift",
"gift"
],
[
"prize",
"prize"
],
[
"grab",
"grab"
]
],
"senseid": [
"en:bag from which a gift may be withdrawn"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "mystery bag"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "11 15 33 13 28",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Bags",
"orig": "en:Bags",
"parents": [
"Containers",
"Tools",
"Technology",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "With that system, it's a grab bag which files we can find at any moment.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2015, Mark Ribowsky, Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars:",
"text": "There were now a grab bag of southern country-rock units with a new wrinkle—Black Oak Arkansas, for one, combined psychedelia, fifties rock, Hindu spiritualism, and gospel into “psycho-boogie,” or “raunch 'n' roll.”",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2020 August 18, James Poniewozik, “A D.N.C. Opening Night for the New Abnormal”, in The New York Times:",
"text": "There was no location, really — most of the convention took place in a Milwaukee of the mind. […] Instead, the teleconvention kept a few standards (like the Bruce Springsteen–soundtracked montage) and borrowed from a grab bag of other TV formats, from talk show to cable news to reality-TV reunion special.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2023 July 10, Zachary Woolfe, “Review: Ted Hearne’s Sweet, Sad American Elegy”, in The New York Times:",
"text": "While this piece is less scattered than Hearne’s most recent major work, “Place,” a deeply personal reflection on gentrification, “Farming,” too, feels like a grab bag into which there’s always assumed to be room for yet one more idea.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any random assortment, selection or possibility."
],
"id": "en-grab_bag-en-noun-en:hodgepodge",
"links": [
[
"random",
"random"
],
[
"assortment",
"assortment"
],
[
"possibility",
"possibility"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative) Any random assortment, selection or possibility."
],
"senseid": [
"en:hodgepodge"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "lucky dip"
},
{
"word": "mixed bag"
},
{
"word": "ragbag"
},
{
"word": "hodgepodge"
},
{
"word": "hodgepodge"
}
],
"tags": [
"figuratively"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "11 15 33 13 28",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Bags",
"orig": "en:Bags",
"parents": [
"Containers",
"Tools",
"Technology",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A moderately large bag of crisps or other snack, suitable for sharing."
],
"id": "en-grab_bag-en-noun-en:food_package_of_size_suitable_for_sharing",
"links": [
[
"crisp",
"crisp"
]
],
"senseid": [
"en:food package of size suitable for sharing"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "12 14 22 15 37",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "10 16 13 18 44",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "11 13 19 16 41",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "11 15 33 13 28",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Bags",
"orig": "en:Bags",
"parents": [
"Containers",
"Tools",
"Technology",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A bag containing essential items, which can be easily picked up and taken in an emergency."
],
"id": "en-grab_bag-en-noun-en:bug_out_bag",
"links": [
[
"essential",
"essential"
],
[
"picked up",
"pick up"
]
],
"senseid": [
"en:bug-out bag"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "bug-out bag"
},
{
"word": "go bag"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-grab bag.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/30/En-au-grab_bag.ogg/En-au-grab_bag.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/En-au-grab_bag.ogg"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "15 31 9 20 25",
"word": "grabbag"
},
{
"_dis1": "15 31 9 20 25",
"word": "grab-bag"
}
],
"word": "grab bag"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"en:Bags"
],
"etymology_text": "Literal sense",
"forms": [
{
"form": "grab bags",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "grab bag (plural grab bags)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "grab box"
},
{
"word": "let the cat out of the bag"
},
{
"word": "mixed bag"
},
{
"word": "blackball"
},
{
"word": "lucky dip"
},
{
"word": "pick 'n' mix"
},
{
"word": "pig in a poke"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Winners can choose a gift from the grab bags on the table.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A gift, purchase, etc. whose contents are concealed until after a selection is made; a bag as gift that comprises mystery prizes."
],
"links": [
[
"gift",
"gift"
],
[
"purchase",
"purchase"
],
[
"conceal",
"conceal"
],
[
"selection",
"selection"
],
[
"mystery",
"mystery"
],
[
"prize",
"prize"
]
],
"senseid": [
"en:bag as gift that comprises mystery prizes"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "mystery bag"
}
]
},
{
"examples": [
{
"text": "Coordinate term: grab box"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A bag from which a gift or prize may be withdrawn (grabbed) unseen."
],
"links": [
[
"bag",
"bag"
],
[
"gift",
"gift"
],
[
"prize",
"prize"
],
[
"grab",
"grab"
]
],
"senseid": [
"en:bag from which a gift may be withdrawn"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "mystery bag"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "With that system, it's a grab bag which files we can find at any moment.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2015, Mark Ribowsky, Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars:",
"text": "There were now a grab bag of southern country-rock units with a new wrinkle—Black Oak Arkansas, for one, combined psychedelia, fifties rock, Hindu spiritualism, and gospel into “psycho-boogie,” or “raunch 'n' roll.”",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2020 August 18, James Poniewozik, “A D.N.C. Opening Night for the New Abnormal”, in The New York Times:",
"text": "There was no location, really — most of the convention took place in a Milwaukee of the mind. […] Instead, the teleconvention kept a few standards (like the Bruce Springsteen–soundtracked montage) and borrowed from a grab bag of other TV formats, from talk show to cable news to reality-TV reunion special.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2023 July 10, Zachary Woolfe, “Review: Ted Hearne’s Sweet, Sad American Elegy”, in The New York Times:",
"text": "While this piece is less scattered than Hearne’s most recent major work, “Place,” a deeply personal reflection on gentrification, “Farming,” too, feels like a grab bag into which there’s always assumed to be room for yet one more idea.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any random assortment, selection or possibility."
],
"links": [
[
"random",
"random"
],
[
"assortment",
"assortment"
],
[
"possibility",
"possibility"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative) Any random assortment, selection or possibility."
],
"senseid": [
"en:hodgepodge"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "lucky dip"
},
{
"word": "mixed bag"
},
{
"word": "ragbag"
},
{
"word": "hodgepodge"
},
{
"word": "hodgepodge"
}
],
"tags": [
"figuratively"
]
},
{
"glosses": [
"A moderately large bag of crisps or other snack, suitable for sharing."
],
"links": [
[
"crisp",
"crisp"
]
],
"senseid": [
"en:food package of size suitable for sharing"
]
},
{
"glosses": [
"A bag containing essential items, which can be easily picked up and taken in an emergency."
],
"links": [
[
"essential",
"essential"
],
[
"picked up",
"pick up"
]
],
"senseid": [
"en:bug-out bag"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "bug-out bag"
},
{
"word": "go bag"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-grab bag.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/30/En-au-grab_bag.ogg/En-au-grab_bag.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/En-au-grab_bag.ogg"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "grabbag"
},
{
"word": "grab-bag"
}
],
"word": "grab bag"
}
Download raw JSONL data for grab bag meaning in English (4.0kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.