dagwood sandwich

Noun capitalized: Dagwood sandwich

Dagwood sandwich (plural Dagwood sandwiches)

1. (informal) An exceptionally thick sandwich made with numerous layers of various meats, cheeses, vegetables, and condiments.
   • The kind of sandwich he made famous, the Dagwood sandwich, is a hodgepodge of leftovers in the refrigerator all wedged in between two slices of bread.1980, Arthur Asa Berger, Television As An instrument of Terror, →ISBN, page 76
   • Everyone gets the late-night munchies now and then, whether for rocky road ice cream or a Dagwood sandwich of salami, pickles and deli Swiss on rye.1999 September 7, Tom Zeller, “Nutrition: When Refrigerator Raiders Lose Control”, in New York Times, retrieved 19 Apr 2014

   Synonyms:

   dag, dag sandwich, Dagwood

2. (broadly, figuratively) A thick stack of flat objects or a complicated melange of diverse components or ingredients.
   • As one of Groucho Marx's writers told it: an unemployed actor was interrupted at breakfast by his wife carrying a Dagwood sandwich of unpaid bills.1956 February 27, “Medicine: Don't-Give-a-Damn Pills”, in Time, retrieved 19 Apr 2014
   • [T]o use the full 512K theoretically available, one will have a computer carrying a Dagwood sandwich of expansion attachments on one of its sides.1984 August 28, Erik Sandberg-Diment, “Personal Computers: Awkward Junior Has Growing Pains”, in New York Times, retrieved 19 Apr 2014