Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for carpetbag. Search instead for Carpetbagging.

carpetbag

American  
[kahr-pit-bag] / ˈkɑr pɪtˌbæg /

noun

  1. a bag for traveling, especially one made of carpeting.


verb (used without object)

carpetbagged, carpetbagging
  1. to journey with little luggage.

  2. to act as a carpetbagger.

carpetbag British  
/ ˈkɑːpɪtˌbæɡ /

noun

  1. a travelling bag originally made of carpeting

"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

Etymology

Origin of carpetbag

First recorded in 1820–30; carpet + bag


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:

Some distance away, beyond the shade of the awning, a low white, with what I guessed to be all his possessions in a carpetbag, smoked tobacco.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 3, 2019

Re-reading it now from the misty vantage point of middle age, I hardly recognise the solitary figure who shouldered a carpetbag for 4,185km.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 6, 2019

So the new sequel, directed by Rob Marshall and starring Emily Blunt, carried a rather heavy carpetbag, you might say.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 12, 2018

Keats said it first, but it was Mary Poppins, being practically perfect in every way, who found the right occasion for it, shortly after pulling an improbably large houseplant out of her carpetbag.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2018

Aunt Kitty did not seem to notice, as her eyes were on the brown trunk a few steps away, tended to by the porter, and on the colorful carpetbag hanging from Mrs. Maroney’s elbow.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Why do voters respond positively to deeply rooted candidates and negatively to their carpetbagging counterparts?

From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2022

And the 50-year-old was vulnerable to accusations of carpetbagging.

From Washington Post ● May 10, 2022

Undaunted by accusations of carpetbagging, she leaned heavily on her family’s roots and Rolodex.

From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2021

He makes it sound like carpetbagging lawyers are bypassing judges and juries and magically enriching themselves simply by filing unfounded lawsuits against livestock operators.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 3, 2017

I think she has found out about the carpetbagging.

From Andrew the Glad by Maria Thompson Daviess

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training