bag

[[t]bæ̱g[/t]]

♦♦

bags, bagging, bagged

1) N-COUNT A bag is a container made of thin paper or plastic, for example one that is used in shops to put things in that a customer has bought.

N-COUNT: usu N of n

A bag of things is the amount of things contained in a bag.

2) N-COUNT A bag is a strong container with one or two handles, used to carry things in.

She left the hotel carrying a shopping bag.

N-COUNT: usu N of n

A bag of things is the amount of things contained in a bag.

3) N-COUNT A bag is the same as a handbag.

4) N-PLURAL If you have bags under your eyes, you have folds of skin there, usually because you have not had enough sleep.

5) QUANT: QUANT of pl-n/n-uncount (emphasis) If you say there is bags of something, you mean that there is a large amount of it. If you say that there are bags of things, you mean that there are a large number of them. [BRIT, INFORMAL]

...a hotel with bags of character.

Syn:

heaps of

6) N-COUNT (disapproval) If someone calls a woman an old bag or a stupid bag, they are insulting her. [OFFENSIVE]

7) VERB If you bag something that a lot of people want, you get it for yourself before anyone else can get it. [BRIT, INFORMAL]

[V n] The smart ones will have already bagged their seats by placing cards on them.

8) → See also , carrier bag, , shoulder-bag, , tea bag

9) PHRASE: usu v-link PHR If you say that something is in the bag, you mean that you are certain that you will get it or achieve it. [INFORMAL]

`I'll get the Republican nomination,' he assured me. `It's in the bag.'

10) PHRASE: V inflects If you are left holding the bag, you are put in a situation where you are responsible for something, often in an unfair way because other people fail or refuse to take responsibility for it. [AM, INFORMAL]

I don't want to be left holding the bag if something goes wrong.

(in BRIT, use be left holding the baby)

11) PHRASE: V inflects If you pack your bags, you leave a place where you have been staying or living.

Police arrived at his hotel and ordered him to pack his bags.

12) let the cat out of the bag → see cat

Phrasal Verbs:

- bag up