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bag

[bag] /bæg/
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noun
1.
a container or receptacle of leather, plastic, cloth, paper, etc., capable of being closed at the mouth; pouch.
2.
something resembling or suggesting such a receptacle.
3.
a suitcase or other portable container for carrying articles, as in traveling.
4.
a purse or moneybag.
5.
the amount or quantity a bag can hold.
6.
any of various measures of capacity.
7.
a sac, as in an animal body.
8.
an udder.
9.
Slang. a small glassine or cellophane envelope containing a narcotic drug or a mixture of narcotics.
10.
something hanging in a loose, pouchlike manner, as skin or cloth; a baggy part:
He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep.
11.
Baseball. base1 (def 8b).
12.
Hunting. the amount of game taken, especially by one hunter in one hunting trip or over a specified period.
13.
Slang.
  1. a person's avocation, hobby, major interest, or obsession:
    Jazz isn't my bag.
  2. a person's mood or frame of mind:
    The boss is in a mean bag today.
  3. an environment, condition, or situation.
14.
bags.
  1. Informal. plenty; much; many (usually followed by of):
    bags of time; bags of money.
  2. Slang. trousers.
verb (used without object), bagged, bagging.
15.
to swell or bulge:
A stiff breeze made the sails bag out.
16.
to hang loosely like an empty bag:
His socks bagged at the ankles.
17.
to pack groceries or other items into a bag.
verb (used with object), bagged, bagging.
18.
to cause to swell or bulge; distend:
The wind bagged the curtain.
19.
to put into a bag.
20.
Informal. to kill or catch, as in hunting:
I bagged my first deer when I was a teenager.
21.
Slang. to quit, abandon, or skip (often used in the phrase bag it):
I bagged my math class today. We'd better bag the deal. I was working too hard so I decided to bag it.
22.
Theater. clew (def 9a).
interjection
23.
bags! British Slang. (used to lay first claim to something):
Bags it! Bags, I go first!
Idioms
24.
bag and baggage,
  1. with all one's personal property:
    When they went to collect the rent, they found he had left, bag and baggage.
  2. completely, totally:
    The equipment had disappeared, bag and baggage, without even the slightest trace.
25.
bag of bones, an emaciated person or animal.
26.
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.
27.
in the bag, Informal. virtually certain; assured; definite:
Her promotion is in the bag. The sale of the house is in the bag.
28.
leave holding the bag / sack, Informal. to force to bear the entire blame, responsibility, or loss that was to have been shared:
His accomplices flew to South America and he was left holding the bag.
29.
old bag, Slang. an unattractive, often slatternly woman:
a gossipy old bag.
Origin of bag
Middle English
Old Norse
1200-1250
1200-50; 1920-25 for def 29; Middle English bagge < Old Norse baggi pack, bundle
Related forms
baglike, adjective
unbagged, adjective
Can be confused
bag, sac, sack, sacque.
Regional variation note
1. Although bag and sack are both used everywhere throughout the U.S., the more commonly used word in the North Midland U.S. is bag and in the South Midland is sack.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018.
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British Dictionary definitions for in the bag

bag

/bæɡ/
noun
1.
a flexible container with an opening at one end
2.
Also called bagful. the contents of or amount contained in such a container
3.
any of various measures of quantity, such as a bag containing 1 hundredweight of coal
4.
a piece of portable luggage
5.
short for handbag
6.
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
7.
any pouch or sac forming part of the body of an animal, esp the udder of a cow
8.
(hunting) the quantity of quarry taken in a single hunting trip or by a single hunter
9.
(derogatory, slang) an ugly or bad-tempered woman (often in the phrase old bag)
10.
(slang) a measure of marijuana, heroin, etc, in folded paper
11.
(slang) a person's particular taste, field of skill, interest, activity, etc: blues is his bag
12.
(informal) bag and baggage
  1. with all one's belongings
  2. entirely
13.
a bag of bones, a lean creature
14.
(slang) in the bag, almost assured of succeeding or being obtained
15.
(informal) the bag of tricks, the whole bag of tricks, every device; everything
verb bags, bagging, bagged
16.
(transitive) to put into a bag
17.
to bulge or cause to bulge; swell
18.
(transitive) to capture or kill, as in hunting
19.
(transitive) to catch, seize, or steal
20.
(intransitive) to hang loosely; sag
21.
(transitive) to achieve or accomplish: she bagged seven birdies
22.
(transitive) (Brit, informal) to reserve or secure the right to do or to have something: he bagged the best chair
23.
(transitive) (Austral, slang) to criticize; disparage
See also bags
Word Origin
C13: probably from Old Norse baggi; related to Old French bague bundle, pack, Medieval Latin baga chest, sack, Flemish bagge
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for in the bag

bag

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.

bag

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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in the bag in Medicine

bag (bāg)
n.

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

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

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Slang definitions & phrases for in the bag

in the bag

adjective phrase

  1. Certain; sure; on ice: It's in the bag. The fix is in (1926+)
  2. Ruined; destroyed; finished, kaput, out of the box: If an actor is hurt or killed doing a stunt the whole film is in the bag (1970s+)

Related Terms

half in the bag

[fr game shot and stuffed into the game bag; second sense fr the use of the heavy plastic body bag for the handling of military and other casualties]

bag

noun

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

verb

  1. To get or capture: to bag a gold medal/ They bagged the mugger in the next block (1814+)
  2. To arrest; bust, collar: You don't have to bag nuns (1800s+)
  3. To discharge; can, fire, sack: Just say the author was willing to bag an old friend (mid-1800s+)
  4. To suppress; get rid of; discard: Let's bag the whole notion, okay? (1960s+)
  5. (also bag it) To avoid; not attend; skip: We can bag gym class/ Like bag this movie, for sure (1892+ Students)
  6. (also bag it) To abandon; cease; give up: I had to bag it. I had to give up all that stuff (1980s+ Students)
  7. To include; categorize; group with: We're always bagged in England with bands like Iron Maiden (1960s+)
  8. 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+)
  9. BAG ON someone (1990s+)
  10. 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

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.
Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.
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Idioms and Phrases with in the bag

in the bag

Assured of success, virtually accomplished or won. For example, The coach thought the trophy was in the bag, or Our new contract is in the bag. The precise allusion in this idiom is unknown. One writer believes it refers to a completed transaction, that is, an item bought and wrapped in a bag. However, it may well refer to the game bag in which hunters place small game such as birds. [ c. 1920 ]
Also see: under wrap up

bag

also see:
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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