potluck
Americannoun
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food or a meal that happens to be available without special preparation or purchase.
to take potluck with a friend.
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Also called potluck dinner,. Also called potluck lunch. Also called potluck supper,. a meal, especially for a large group, to which participants bring various foods to be shared.
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whatever is available or comes one's way.
With fluctuating interest rates, homebuyers are learning to take potluck with the banks.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of potluck
Explanation
When each of the guests at a party brings a dish for everyone to share, that's a potluck. If you're invited to a potluck, you might want to bring your famous macaroni and cheese. This North American noun describes a particular type of meal, sometimes called a "covered-dish-supper" or a "dish-to-pass." If someone asks you to come to a potluck or a potluck supper, you'll want to be sure you don't arrive empty-handed. The potluck's origin dates to the Great Depression of the 1930s — earlier, the word meant "the luck of the pot, or food for an unexpected or uninvited guest."
Vocabulary lists containing potluck
Picture Us in the Light
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Lasagna Means I Love You
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A banner reading “Happy Birthday Bill!” hung over a potluck buffet of plastic trays and slow cookers, with the aforementioned Bill and his family and friends all clearly enjoying retirement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
“It’s like they’re all at a potluck, but no one is coordinating on what to bring or who to invite,” El Chavo said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
At a potluck, the assorted offerings—the masala potatoes, a church-basement casserole, a barbecue sauce perfected over decades—represent the best of individual traditions and stories of identity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
If we imagine it as a potluck, we will build another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
And Bruno has arrived, just in time for a huge potluck.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
The holidays represent an especially anxiety-ridden time for introverted employees—what with office parties, potlucks and other gatherings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
I became the dependable participant at potlucks, arriving with two or three dishes to ensure there was something good on the table.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2025
The neighbors gather for pumpkin carving each Halloween, pancake breakfasts, Fourth of July potlucks and neighborhood cleanups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2024
The centers often hosted political rallies, dances and potlucks, and some even helped community members prepare for the U.S. citizenship test.
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
At the potlucks of poor people churches in Oklahoma, the BBQ is always good.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
