sandbag
US/ˈsændˌbæɡ/
sandbag noun: a sturdy sack filled with sand, generally used in large numbers to make defensive walls against flooding, bullets, or shrapnel.
Noun
sandbag (plural sandbags)
- A sturdy sack filled with sand, generally used in large numbers to make defensive walls against flooding, bullets, or shrapnel.
- Santa Cruz residents clear storm debris and stack sandbags near their homes on January 7.2023 January 16, “California’s flooding, in pictures”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Mar 2023
- A small bag filled with sand and used as a cudgel.
- An engraver's leather cushion, etc.
- A deceptive play whereby a player with a strong hand bets weakly or passively.
- A bag of illicit drugs.
- Two young bruddas tryna eat off of music / But we used to eat off of pebs and the sandbags2016, “Thiago Silva”, performed by Dave & AJ Tracey
Verb
sandbag (third-person singular simple present sandbags, present participle sandbagging, simple past and past participle sandbagged)
- To construct a barrier of sandbags (around).
- We sandbagged the basement windows against the floodwaters.
- The height “49 feet” became a mantra, as volunteers worked for weeks sandbagging and building to match that height.2007, Sheri O'Meara, Storms 2: Tales of Extreme Weather Events in Minnesota, D Media, →ISBN, page 69
- To strike (someone) with a sandbag or other object to disable or render unconscious.
- To conceal or misrepresent one's true position, potential, or intent in order to gain an advantage; (originally poker) to pretend to have a weak hand, as a strategy.
- Some felt that Roberts was sandbagging, because his mastery of the 250s wasn't really showing in practice or the heat.1976, Cycle World Magazine, volume 15, number 1 & 2, page 83
- The sandbagging manager is similarly deceptive. He has mastered the art of seeming harmless and without power, but in reality he carries far more authority and clout than one would be led to believe.1976, Richard H. Buskirk, Handbook of Managerial Tactics, Boston: Cahners Books, →ISBN, page 32
- Synonyms:
- downplay
- To blindside; to deceive; to undermine.
- “Sandbagged” was used by George Bush in response to the charges of stiffing. “We feel we were sandbagged,” he said, repeating the slang verb used first by his New Hampshire campaign manager. Concurrently, Joe Scott wrote in his newsletter, “The Political Animal,” that Governor Jerry Brown was...1982, William Safire, What's the Good Word?, New York: Times Books, →ISBN, page 263
- The Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has allowed himself to be sandbagged by his Tory partners in his otherwise laudable attempt to introduce a fairer electoral system, probably losing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for electoral reform.2010 July 28, Peter Hain, “Tories sandbagged Clegg on electoral reform”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- To premake dishes (prepare them in advance) (intransitive); to premake (dishes) (transitive).
- To pretend to drink alcohol early on so that, as the night draws on, one can drink everybody else "under the table".
sandbag meaning in Tamil and Indonesian
sandbag in Tamil
- மணற் மூட்டை
sandbag in Indonesian
- a bag filled with sand
- samsak
Examples of sandbag in a sentence
- “Sandbagged” was used by George Bush in response to the charges of stiffing.1982, William Safire, What's the Good Word?, New York: Times Books, →ISBN, page 263:
- [Shane Black:] And keep in mind, I got sandbagged by this one reporter in like 1999 or 2000.2016 May 16, Zach Baron, “Why Shane Black's The Nice Guys Was 15 Years in the Making”, in GQ:
Synonyms of sandbag
Forms of sandbag
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sandbags |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sandbags |
| present participle | sandbagging |
| past participle | sandbagged |
| past | sandbagged |
Origin of sandbag
From sand + bag.
Words formed from sandbag
Questions about sandbag
- What does sandbag mean?
- Sandbag means a sturdy sack filled with sand, generally used in large numbers to make defensive walls against flooding, bullets, or shrapnel.
- What is sandbag in Tamil?
- Sandbag in Tamil is மணற் மூட்டை. See Sandbag meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use sandbag in a sentence?
- “Sandbagged” was used by George Bush in response to the charges of stiffing.
- What part of speech is sandbag?
- Sandbag can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce sandbag?
- Sandbag is pronounced /ˈsændˌbæɡ/ (US).
- What is the plural of sandbag?
- The plural of sandbag is sandbags.
Words near sandbag in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sandbag (page history and authors); sandbag (Tamil Wiktionary) (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sandbag.wav.
Cite this entry: “sandbag.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sandbag. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.