Ali Baba bag
Ali Baba bag noun: a soldier's duffel bag.
Noun
Ali Baba bag (plural Ali Baba bags)
- A soldier's duffel bag.
- Each enlistee leaves.. with items packed into a duffel bag more commonly known as the ‘Ali-Baba’ bag.2015, Martin Choo, editor, The Singapore Armed Forces, 1981, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English
- To the young recruit who is already carrying a civilian bag packed with his belongings and spare civilian clothing, the Ali Baba bag is a man-size load.2015, Mickey Chiang, Fighting Fit: The Singapore Armed Forces, 1990, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English
Forms of Ali Baba bag
| plural | Ali Baba bags |
|---|
Origin of Ali Baba bag
A reference to the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, in which the thieves hide in large oil jars; perhaps based on the idea that the bag is large enough to fit a person. Compare senses of Ali Baba related to large containers.
Questions about Ali Baba bag
- What does Ali Baba bag mean?
- Ali Baba bag means a soldier's duffel bag.
- What part of speech is Ali Baba bag?
- Ali Baba bag is a noun.
- What is the plural of Ali Baba bag?
- The plural of Ali Baba bag is Ali Baba bags.
Words near Ali Baba bag in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Ali Baba bag (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “Ali Baba bag.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ali_baba_bag. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.