ditty bag

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noun

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

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. 2018

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

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