bag of tricks

Idioms

One's stock of resources and stratagems, as in Mom can fix anything—you never know what she will pull out of her bag of tricks. Alluding to the magician's bag of equipment for performing magic tricks, this term was first recorded in 1694, when Jean de La Fontaine, in one of his fables, has a fox carry a sac des ruses (“bag of tricks”).

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.

American legend Shaun White may have retired but there will still be plenty of gasp-inducing acrobatics as riders drop into the pipe to show off their bag of tricks.

From BBC • Feb. 2, 2026

And being a successful trial attorney, there’s a bag of tricks that probably grows with each year, so he’s probably pretty adept at using all of them or whatever he needs given the situation.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 15, 2025

It was everything out of the bag of tricks just crammed together.

From Slate • Nov. 5, 2024

I knew that she was one of those girls who had a bag of tricks that she wasn't going to let anyone see until the time was right.

From Salon • May 3, 2024

“I’ve never seen a bag of tricks like that.”

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023