Gladstone bag

American  

noun

1. a small rectangular suitcase hinged to open into two compartments of equal size.

---

Gladstone bag British  

noun

1. a piece of hand luggage consisting of two equal-sized hinged compartments

---

Etymology

Origin of Gladstone bag

First recorded in 1880–85; after W.E. Gladstone

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Gladstone bag

Behind his padlocked closet door lay a Gladstone bag.

From Time Magazine Archive

At meetings of collectors' clubs, he often appears lugging in his thin white fingers an ancient dilapidated Gladstone bag.

From Time Magazine Archive

Gladstone bag and all, the book has become a delicious and gossipy literary event in England ...

From Time Magazine Archive

You heard of "Hooverize," a "Gladstone" bag, but Maverick is unique.

From Time Magazine Archive

That it was not more ornamental than a Gladstone bag did not trouble him.

From Notwithstanding by Cholmondeley, Mary