sandbag
Americanverb (used with object)
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sandbags,
present (3rd person singular)
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sandbagged,
past participle, past
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sandbagging
present participle
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to furnish with sandbags.
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to hit or stun with a sandbag.
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Informal.
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to set upon violently; attack from or as if from ambush.
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to coerce or intimidate, as by threats.
The election committee was sandbagged into nominating the officers for a second term.
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to thwart or cause to fail or be rejected, especially surreptitiously or without warning.
He sandbagged our proposal with his snide remarks to the boss.
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Poker. to deceive (one or more opponents) into remaining in the pot by refraining from betting on a strong hand, then raising the bet in a later round.
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Informal. to gain an advantage over (one or more competitors) by concealing one's abilities or other strengths early in a game or other competitive activity.
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Informal. to gain an advantage by concealing or downplaying the strengths of (something).
companies that sandbag their earnings estimates and then easily beat them to make everyone happy.
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verb (used without object)
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sandbags,
present (3rd person singular)
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sandbagged,
past participle, past
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sandbagging
present participle
noun
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a sack filled with sand used for protection against gunfire, floodwater, etc, or as ballast in a balloon, ship, etc
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a bag filled with sand and used as a weapon
verb
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to protect or strengthen with sandbags
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to hit with or as if with a sandbag
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finance to obstruct (an unwelcome takeover bid) by prolonging talks in the hope that an acceptable bidder will come forward
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sandbagsimple
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sandbagssimple
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have sandbaggedperfect
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has sandbaggedperfect
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am sandbaggingprogressive
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are sandbaggingprogressive
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is sandbaggingprogressive
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have been sandbaggingperfect progressive
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has been sandbaggingperfect progressive
Past
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sandbaggedsimple
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had sandbaggedperfect
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was sandbaggingprogressive
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were sandbaggingprogressive
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had been sandbaggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sandbag
Explanation
A sandbag is a big bag of sand. If a hurricane is coming, chuck a sandbag or two by the beach house to keep the water out. Also, to sandbag someone is to trick or bully them into doing something. Sand is inexpensive and heavy, which is why sandbags are used for jobs like protecting vehicles and buildings during bombings or storms, or balancing the total weight on a boat. When you use sandbag as a verb, it either means to protect with sandbags or to deceive or coerce someone to get something you want. When you pretend that you're terrible at basketball just so you can beat your cousin in one-on-one, you sandbag her.
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:
Exercises in the competition are similar to those found in athletic gyms, such as burpee broad jumps and sandbag lunges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Do I have a sandbag to rest my head on while all this melee is happening around me?'
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
To guard in the event of a spill, authorities set up sandbag barriers to block the chemical from storm drains that lead to the ocean.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
Ultimately, Bertrand removes a 50-pound sandbag from the counterweight bin, tightens the sling, and realigns the wooden trough.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025
Quietly, almost with dignity, he stood up and took aim and fired once more at the sandbag.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
The city declared a local emergency Friday and urged residents to pick up sandbags to protect their homes over the weekend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Further southeast, in the On Nut neighbourhood, AFP reporters saw locals wading through knee-high flood waters along a road, as well as filling up sandbags to take home.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
They constructed elaborate barricades with concrete, sandbags and razor wire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
“It’s the equivalent of putting a few sandbags out once the flood has already started,” George Catrambone, Americas head of fixed income at DWS Group, said of the beefed-up buyback plan.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
He replaced the potting soil with twenty-five-pound sandbags, got me bike gloves for my hands—which are a lifesaver—and added pouches to the sides for water bottles, which is something I’ve really needed in this heat.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
While shop owners sandbagged the entrances to their stores and boarded up the doors and windows, there was little sense of impending disaster.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
"The president called to check on me. I told him I got sandbagged," McConnell joked to reporters, referencing President Joe Biden's explanation for his fall last month.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2023
The hallmarks of a wartime capital, though, were unmistakable: sandbagged statuary, rusted “hedgehog” tank traps, checkpoints on roads leading to the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2023
“There will be no wavering” in American backing, Mr. Sullivan said at a news conference in a sandbagged conference room of the presidential office.
From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2022
The ground-floor windows had been sandbagged, and every skylight cemented over.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Starting any new car company in America, let alone an electric one, requires uncanny maneuvering and persistence against every kind of bureaucratic, regulatory and political sandbagging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
Institute experts also looked at the possibility of models "sandbagging" - or strategically hiding their true capabilities from testers.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025
Bill Hwang is seeking the dismissal of his U.S. fraud indictment over the collapse of his once-$36 billion Archegos Capital Management LP, saying prosecutors committed misconduct by sandbagging him when building their case.
From Reuters ● Dec. 5, 2022
Early on, the city braced for a potential Russian amphibious attack, shoring up defenses, sandbagging pastel-colored buildings, blocking off key approaches with antitank “hedgehogs” fashioned from steel beams.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2022
The sandbagging on the ground-floor windows was reinforced, and civilian contractors were on the roofs checking the firmness of the chimney stacks and the concreted skylights.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
