Word.ws English Dictionary

bag

UK/bæɡ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/baɡ/

bag noun: a soft container made out of cloth, paper, thin plastic, etc. and open at the top, used to hold food, commodities, and other goods.

bag: a soft container made out of cloth, paper, thin plastic, etc. and open at the top, used to hold...
Image: Chiccodoro, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

bag (countable and uncountable, plural bags)

  1. A soft container made out of cloth, paper, thin plastic, etc. and open at the top, used to hold food, commodities, and other goods.
    Synonyms:
    sack, tote, poke
  2. A container made of leather, plastic, or other material, usually with a handle or handles, in which you carry personal items, or clothes or other things that you need for travelling. Includes shopping bags, schoolbags, suitcases, briefcases, handbags, backpacks, etc.
  3. (colloquial) One's preference.
    • Acid House is not my bag: I prefer the more traditional styles of music.
    • And from then on, his bag was silence. Silence and killing.1976, Newton Thornburg, Cutter and Bone, Little, Brown, →ISBN, page 250
  4. (derogatory) An ugly woman.
    Synonyms:
    dog, hag
  5. The cloth-covered pillow used for first, second, and third base.
    • The grounder hit the bag and bounced over the fielder’s head.
  6. First, second, or third base.
    • He headed back to the bag.
  7. (preceded by the) A breathalyzer, so named because it formerly had a plastic bag over the end to measure a set amount of breath.
  8. A collection of objects, disregarding order, but (unlike a set) in which elements may be repeated.
    • A bag of three apples could be represented symbolically as {a,a,a}. Or, letting 'r' denote 'red apple' and 'g' denote 'green apple', then a bag of three red apples and two green apples could be denoted as {r,r,r,g,g}.
    Synonyms:
    multiset
  9. A sac in animal bodies, containing some fluid or other substance.
    • the bag of poison in the mouth of some serpents
    1. An udder, especially the pendulous one of a dairy cow.
      • Meronym: teats
      • Her bag is coming in nicely now.
    2. (plural-normally) The human female breast.
  10. (historical) A pouch tied behind a man's head to hold the back-hair of a wig; a bag wig.
    • [H]e had once lost his bag, and a considerable quantity of hair, which had been cut off by some rascal in his passage through Ludgate, during the lord mayor's procession.1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC
    • He had on a suit of Manchester velvet, Lined with white satten, a Bag, lace Ruffles, and a very handsome sword which the King had given to him.1774, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin 2001, 1 December
  11. The quantity of game bagged in a hunt.
  12. (UK) A unit of measure of cement equal to 94 pounds.
Show 7 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (in plural) A dark circle under the eye, caused by lack of sleep, drug addiction etc.
    • With gravel stuck to my cheek, I pulled myself back in the car, looked in the rearview mirror, and saw, looking back at me, a young man with a pale face and a purple bag under each eye. I looked pitiful […]2013, Ken Ilgunas, Walden on Wheels: On the Open Road from Debt to Freedom, page 14
  2. (informal) A large number or amount.
  3. (slang) In certain phrases: money.
    • What about the time you got shot eight times and then played a show the same week? ¶ Oh yeah that was beautiful, I mean it was fucked up that I was shot, but as far as goin' to get that bag I'm always gonna go get that bag.2014 August 28, Sam Wilhoit, quoting OJ da Juiceman, “The Life and Times of OJ da Juiceman”, in VICE, archived from the original on 22 Sep 2023
    • A bag refers to money. So to get a bag or even secure a bag means that you are acquiring money.[2019 February 6, Rasha Ali, “Get hip to all the slang words and phrases your kids are using and what they mean, okurrr”, in USA Today, McLean, V.A.: Gannett, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original...
  4. (US, derogatory, slang) A fellow gay man.
  5. (slang) A small envelope that contains drugs, especially narcotics.
  6. (slang, vulgar) The scrotum.
  7. (Cockney, slang) £1000, a grand.
    • Coulda got a bag last year
    • But now I get a bag for a verse2017 May 2, Figure Flows, “Money Right”, in Big Figures ft. Purple, from 1:18

Verb

bag (third-person singular simple present bags, present participle bagging, simple past and past participle bagged)

  1. (transitive) To put into a bag.
  2. (informal, transitive) To catch or kill, especially when fishing or hunting.
    • We bagged three deer yesterday.
    • He was a fine specimen, very large and with a beautiful coat, and I wish I had had the luck to bag him.1909, John Claude White, Sikhim and Bhutan, page 55
  3. (transitive) To gain possession of something, or to make first claim on something.
    • the two opposition groups have bagged almost 300 of the 500 seats contested in the election.2023 May 14, Tan Tam Mei, “Thai election: Early results show opposition parties in the lead”, in The Straits Times
  4. (slang, transitive) To steal.
    • "I am sure nobody would mind," said Susan. "It isn't as if we wanted to take them out of the house; we shan't take them even out of the wardrobe."
      "I never thought of that, Su," said Peter. "Of course, now you put it that way, I see. No one could say you had bagged a coat as long as you leave it in...1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  5. (slang, transitive, African-American Vernacular) To take a woman away with one as a romantic or sexual interest.
    • When we hit the club to go and hell-raise / Probably end up baggin' the cocktail waitress2020, “Those Kinda Nights”, in Music to Be Murdered By, performed by Eminem ft. Ed Sheeran
  6. (slang, transitive) To arrest.
    • Free bro, free bro, we got bagged for a M2021 January 29, JS x Jtrapz, “Straight On Smoke”, 0:54–0:56
    Synonyms:
    nick
  7. (transitive) To furnish or load with a bag.
    • a bee bagged with his honeyed venom1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number)
    1. (transitive) To provide with artificial ventilation via a bag valve mask (BVM) resuscitator.
    2. (transitive) To fit with a bag to collect urine.
      • The patient was bagged for a urine analysis and stat electrolytes were drawn.1985, Sol S. Zimmerman, Joan Holter Gildea, Critical Care Pediatrics, page 205
  8. (ambitransitive, obsolete) To (cause to) swell or hang down like a full bag.
    • The skin bags from containing morbid matter.
    • The brisk wind bagged the sails.
  9. To hang like an empty bag.
    • His trousers bag at the knees.
    • And this uniform did not even fit me so well. But what is a little bagging on the waist and tightness under the arm when you are a gallant member of the British Royal Air Force?2004, Andrea Levy, chapter 11, in Small Island, London: Review, page 125
  10. (intransitive) To drop away from the correct course.
  11. (intransitive, obsolete) To become pregnant.
    • VVell, Venus ſhortly bagged, and ere long vvas Cupid bread, […]1602, William Warner, “The Sixt Booke. Chapter XXX.”, in Albions England. A Continued Historie of the Same Kingdome, from the Originals of the First Inhabitants thereof: […], 5th edition, London: […]...
  12. To forget, ignore, or get rid of.
    • I may just bag that. I think poets have an obligation to boost the magazines they appear in.1977, The Publication of Poetry and Fiction, page 97
    • Well, even if your VCR is still blinking “12:00," I hope you're smart enough to stay inside when it's that cold and just bag that workout.1998, Ed Burke, Precision Heart Rate Training, page 78
  13. (slang, African-American Vernacular) To laugh uncontrollably.
  14. (Australia, slang) To criticise sarcastically.

bag meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

bag in Hindi

flexible container
झोला jholā, थैला thailā, थैली thailī, बैग baig, खीसा khīsā
paper (or plastic) container given or sold to shoppers
थैली thailī
general term for a container made of leather, plastic, or other material
झोला jholā, थैला thailā, थैली thailī

bag in Tamil

flexible container
பை pai

bag in Marathi

flexible container
पिशवी piśvī, बॅग bĕg
paper (or plastic) container given or sold to shoppers
पिशवी piśvī
to put into a bag
पिशवीत घालणे piśvīt ghālṇe, बॅगेत घालणे bĕget ghālṇe

bag in Urdu

flexible container
بَیگ baig, کِھیسا khīsā, جھولا jholā, تَھیلا thailā, کِیسَہ kīsa
More languagesFewer languages
bag in Bengali
ব্যাগ bêg, থলে thole
bag in Telugu
సంచి sañci
bag in Malayalam
സഞ്ചി sañci
bag in Kannada
ಚೀಲ cīla
bag in Punjabi
ਥੈਲਾ thailā, ਬਟੂਆ baṭūā
bag in Gujarati
થેલી thelī
bag in Odia
ବ୍ୟାଗ byāga
bag in Sanskrit
स्यूत syūtá
bag in Assamese
মোনা müna, টোপোলা tüpüla, জোলোঙা zülüṅa
bag in Nepali
झोला jholā, थैलो thailo, ब्याग byāg
bag in Pashto
تېله tela
bag in Tagalog
supot, bulsa, bag
bag in Arabic
حَقِيبَة ḥaqība, جَيْب jayb, كِيس kīs, كيس kīs
bag in Malay
beg
bag in Indonesian
tas
bag in Persian
کِیسَه kīsa, کِیف kīf, کیسِه kise, کیف kif
bag in Thai
ถุง tǔng, กระเป๋า grà-bpǎo
bag in Vietnamese
bao, túi, bỏ vào bao
bag in Myanmar
အိတ် it
Dzongkha
ཕད་ཅུང phad cung

Examples of bag in a sentence

  • They knew it and sometimes used it as a way to get her to glox on, which was not her usual bag.1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 20:
  • My hoodie cost a bag three, my runners cost a bag two2023 June 18, “100mph Freestyle x3”, Clavish (lyrics), 1:30:
  • "As a matter of fact my thoughts were flashing between Ronda and that man-eating tiger I'm going to bag tomorrow."1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XIV, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 147:
  • “Or we can bag that part of it and just go straight inside,” Bolan suggested.2007, Don Pendleton, Ripple Effect, page 322:

All 40 example sentences with bag

Synonyms of bag

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of bag

Forms of bag

Noun
pluralbags
Verb
third-person singular presentbags
present participlebagging
past participlebagged
pastbagged

Past tense of bag: bagged

Plural of bag: bags

Origin of bag

Inherited from Middle English bagge, from Old Norse baggi (“bag, pack, satchel, bundle”) (whence also Old French bague (“bundle, package, sack”)); related to Old Norse bǫggr (“harm, shame; load, burden”), of uncertain origin.

Words formed from bag

Phrases with bag

170 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with bag

39 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about bag

What does bag mean?
Bag means a soft container made out of cloth, paper, thin plastic, etc. and open at the top, used to hold food, commodities, and other goods.
What is bag in Hindi?
Bag in Hindi is झोला (jholā), थैला (thailā), थैली (thailī). See Bag meaning in Hindi.
How do you use bag in a sentence?
They knew it and sometimes used it as a way to get her to glox on, which was not her usual bag.
What part of speech is bag?
Bag can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce bag?
Bag is pronounced /bæɡ/ (UK).
What is the plural of bag?
The plural of bag is bags.

Words near bag in the dictionary

  1. baftahs
  2. baftas
  3. bafts
  4. Bafumbira
  5. Bafut
  6. bag
  7. bag and baggage
  8. bag and band
  9. bag and tag
  10. bag around one's eye
  11. bag around the eye

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bag (page history and authors); ਥੈਲਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); स्यूत (Sanskrit) (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bag.ogg, EN-AU ck1 bag.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Justinrleung-bag.wav.

Cite this entry: “bag.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bag. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.