Gladstone bag

American

noun

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

Gladstone bag British

noun

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

"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 Gladstone bag

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

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:

Gladstone bag

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

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

From Time Magazine Archive

He was vainly trying to strap a Gladstone bag, and was muttering imprecations under his breath.

From Jill's Red Bag by Amy Le Feuvre

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023