sandbag
Americanverb (used with object)
-
sandbags,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sandbagged,
past participle, past
-
sandbagging
present participle
-
to furnish with sandbags.
-
to hit or stun with a sandbag.
-
Informal.
-
to set upon violently; attack from or as if from ambush.
-
to coerce or intimidate, as by threats.
The election committee was sandbagged into nominating the officers for a second term.
-
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.
-
-
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
verb (used without object)
-
sandbags,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sandbagged,
past participle, past
-
sandbagging
present participle
noun
-
a sack filled with sand used for protection against gunfire, floodwater, etc, or as ballast in a balloon, ship, etc
-
a bag filled with sand and used as a weapon
verb
-
to protect or strengthen with sandbags
-
to hit with or as if with a sandbag
-
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
-
sandbagsimple
-
sandbagssimple
-
have sandbaggedperfect
-
has sandbaggedperfect
-
am sandbaggingprogressive
-
are sandbaggingprogressive
-
is sandbaggingprogressive
-
have been sandbaggingperfect progressive
-
has been sandbaggingperfect progressive
Past
-
sandbaggedsimple
-
had sandbaggedperfect
-
was sandbaggingprogressive
-
were sandbaggingprogressive
-
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:
Ultimately, Bertrand removes a 50-pound sandbag from the counterweight bin, tightens the sling, and realigns the wooden trough.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025
And he has had spills in the public eye: falling off a bicycle, tripping over a sandbag.
From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2024
But resistance and resilience apply for councils and government departments too - they can supply sandbag banks in high-risk areas and organise their distribution in an emergency.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2023
They are more careful to make sure there are no obstacles in his path, like the sandbag he tripped over at the Air Force Academy in June.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2023
And while his body was stiff as a sandbag, you could almost see him dancing inside it.
From "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
“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
"What you're seeing now is the most remarkable sight we haven't seen in 10 years," Keelung restaurant owner Penny Pan, 48, said as her husband placed sandbags at the entrance to their eatery.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
In response, the company introduced a wind-assist kit—a pair of cables, clips and sandbags that can keep the fabric from drooping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
Martin and his wife have been placing sandbags at a neighbour's door where water is now gathered inside.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026
They peeked at passersby from behind stacked sandbags at intersections.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
Scholz visited Reichertshofen, north of Munich, inspecting a sandbagged river bank and meeting regional officials including Markus Söder, Bavaria’s governor.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
The neo-Baroque opera house is no longer sandbagged, but the war still feels ever present.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2024
"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
"Rather than wait for any response from the defense, the government sandbagged the process, filing this letter at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening," Bankman-Fried's lawyers wrote.
From Reuters ● Jan. 28, 2023
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
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
Crews spent Tuesday night sandbagging around the station.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 17, 2021
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.
