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ditty bag

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noun

a small bag used especially by sailors to hold sewing implements, toiletries, etc.

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Origin of ditty bag

First recorded in 1855–60; of obscure origin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ditty bag

Historical Examples of ditty bag

  • A rather hyperbolic phrase for a sailor's overhauling his ditty-bag at a leisure moment, and restowing his little hoard.

    The Sailor's Word-Book

    William Henry Smyth

British Dictionary definitions for ditty bag

ditty bag

noun

a sailor's cloth bag for personal belongings or tools. A box used for these purposes is termed a ditty box

Word Origin for ditty bag

C19: perhaps from obsolete dutty calico, from Hindi dhōtī loincloth, dhoti
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
Word Origin and History for ditty bag
n.

1850s nautical slang, perhaps from British naval phrase commodity bag.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper