sandbagged

Verb

sandbag (third-person singular simple present sandbags, present participle sandbagging, simple past and past participle sandbagged)

1. (intransitive, transitive) To construct a barrier of sandbags (around).
   • We sandbagged the basement windows against the floodwaters.
2. (transitive) To strike (someone) with a sandbag or other object to disable or render unconscious.
3. (figuratively, intransitive) 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

   Synonyms:

   downplay

4. (figuratively, transitive) 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
5. (intransitive, transitive, restaurant kitchen jargon) To premake dishes (prepare them in advance) (intransitive); to premake (dishes) (transitive).
6. To pretend to drink alcohol early on so that, as the night draws on, one can drink everybody else "under the table".

See all 11 meanings of sandbag