Meaning of grab bag | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A gift, purchase, etc. whose contents are concealed until after a selection is made; a bag as gift that comprises mystery prizes.
2. A bag from which a gift or prize may be withdrawn (grabbed) unseen.
3. Any random assortment, selection or possibility.
   figuratively
4. A moderately large bag of crisps or other snack, suitable for sharing.
5. A bag containing essential items, which can be easily picked up and taken in an emergency.

Equivalents

Examples

“Winners can choose a gift from the grab bags on the table.”

“With that system, it's a grab bag which files we can find at any moment.”

“There were now a grab bag of southern country-rock units with a new wrinkle—Black Oak Arkansas, for one, combined psychedelia, fifties rock, Hindu spiritualism, and gospel into “psycho-boogie,” or “raunch 'n' roll.””

“There was no location, really — most of the convention took place in a Milwaukee of the mind. […] Instead, the teleconvention kept a few standards (like the Bruce Springsteen–soundtracked montage) and borrowed from a grab bag of other TV formats, from talk show to cable news to reality-TV reunion special.”

“While this piece is less scattered than Hearne’s most recent major work, “Place,” a deeply personal reflection on gentrification, “Farming,” too, feels like a grab bag into which there’s always assumed to be room for yet one more idea.”

CEFR level