grab bag

noun

1. a container or receptacle from which a person at a party or the like draws a gift without knowing what it is.
2. any miscellaneous collection.

grab bag

noun

1. a collection of miscellaneous things
2. a bag or other container from which gifts are drawn at random

Word History and Origins

Origin of grab bag¹

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

Idioms and Phrases

A miscellaneous collection, as in The meeting amounted to a grab bag of petty complaints . This term alludes to a container offered at a party or fair, where one dips in for a party favor or prize without knowing what one will get. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

It’s mostly a grab bag of targeted subsidies: for parents of small children, for first-time homebuyers, for small businesses, for manufacturing and technology.

From Los Angeles Times

Mr. Bayle was among the hundreds of farmers who rolled through the streets of Toulouse earlier this month in their tractors, joining a union-organized protest with a grab bag of demands for the government.

From New York Times

Words such as these — displayed near the synopsis and movie-poster-style tile for each one of the thousands of titles on Netflix — appear to be scooped out of a grab bag.

From New York Times

I'm laughing a little bit because it's sort of a grab bag of everything if you put it that way.

From Salon

“Sometimes when I go to the cold frames to pull something out, and I have half-forgotten what’s in there, it’s like pulling a surprise out of a grab bag,” she said.

From Seattle Times