grab bag

American  

noun

1. a container or receptacle from which a person at a party or the like draws a gift without knowing what it is.

2. any miscellaneous collection.

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grab bag British  

noun

1. a collection of miscellaneous things

2. a bag or other container from which gifts are drawn at random

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grab bag Idioms  

1. A miscellaneous collection, as in The meeting amounted to a grab bag of petty complaints. This term alludes to a container offered at a party or fair, where one dips in for a party favor or prize without knowing what one will get. [Mid-1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of grab bag

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

Example Sentences

Markel didn’t help itself with a disappointing first-quarter profit report in late April that reflected weakness at the noninsurance businesses—a grab bag of about two dozen companies.

From Barron's • May 8, 2026

But if you can’t get a grab bag, you can perhaps sip on an award-winning wine.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026

I’ve always been leery of short-term rentals, and my friends’ recent experience is further proof that rummaging through an online grab bag of properties isn’t for me.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

It’s mostly a grab bag of targeted subsidies: for parents of small children, for first-time homebuyers, for small businesses, for manufacturing and technology.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2024

We’re lucky that English, with its stretchy grammar and its giant grab bag of a vocabulary, gives us so much room for verbal play, if not anarchy.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner