Gladstone bag

American  

noun

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

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Gladstone bag British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of Gladstone bag

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

Example Sentences

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

From Time Magazine Archive

Behind his padlocked closet door lay a 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

As its title suggests, however, the shoestring vacation abroad has gone the way of the Gladstone bag and $4 Mo�t et Chandon.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then I caught sight of a trunk and a Gladstone bag beneath one bunk, and another trunk beneath that opposite.

From A Crime of the Under-seas by Boothby, Guy Newell