potlucks

Noun

potluck (countable and uncountable, plural potlucks)

1. (also, attributive, dated) A meal, especially one offered to a guest, consisting of whatever food is available.
   • Here are some leftover beans and meat; we can make a good potluck stew from them.
2. (also, attributive, broadly) Whatever is available in a particular situation.
   • He at once resolved to accompany me to that island, ship aboard the same vessel, get into the same watch, the same boat, the same mess with me, in short to share my every hap; with both my hands in his, boldly dip into the Potluck of both worlds.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Biographical”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 63
3. (US, also, attributive) A shared meal consisting of whatever guests have brought (sometimes without prior arrangement); a potlatch; also, a dish of food brought to such a meal.
   • Last evening, at the Free Trade Club, a dinner was given by Hon. Robert R. Roosevelt to a large number of his friends. Though invitations had been issued for a week previous, the feast was decidedly of an impromptu character as far the viands went. […] Cards of invitation of an amusing character...1879 March 26, “The pot-luck picnic. An impromptu and enjoyable dinner–a display of culinary skill.”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from...

   Synonyms:

   fuddle

4. (also, attributive, obsolete) The last draft or portion of an alcoholic beverage in a pot or other drinking vessel.
   • We had but euen pot luck, a little to moyſten our lips, and no more.1592 (first performance), Thomas Nash[e], A Pleasant Comedie, Called Summers Last Will and Testament, imprinted at London: By Simon Stafford, for Walter Burre, published 1600, →OCLC

See all 5 meanings of potluck