potluck
Americannoun
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food or a meal that happens to be available without special preparation or purchase.
to take potluck with a friend.
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Also called potluck dinner,. Also called potluck lunch. Also called potluck supper,. a meal, especially for a large group, to which participants bring various foods to be shared.
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whatever is available or comes one's way.
With fluctuating interest rates, homebuyers are learning to take potluck with the banks.
Etymology
Origin of potluck
Explanation
When each of the guests at a party brings a dish for everyone to share, that's a potluck. If you're invited to a potluck, you might want to bring your famous macaroni and cheese. This North American noun describes a particular type of meal, sometimes called a "covered-dish-supper" or a "dish-to-pass." If someone asks you to come to a potluck or a potluck supper, you'll want to be sure you don't arrive empty-handed. The potluck's origin dates to the Great Depression of the 1930s — earlier, the word meant "the luck of the pot, or food for an unexpected or uninvited guest."
Vocabulary lists containing potluck
Picture Us in the Light
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Roll with It
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Lasagna Means I Love You
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The iconic duo would later appear on the “$100,000 Pyramid” as a celebrity team; host their own show, “Martha and Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party,”; publish a cookbook together and co-host the Puppy Bowl.
From Salon • Oct. 31, 2024
Potluck squabbles are so often brought to Miss Manners that she is happy to find another argument against them on behalf of those with strict dietary requirements.
From Washington Post • Apr. 26, 2023
Eldridge: Potluck style can be done safely, but you may want to limit everybody touching the same foods and of course people should wash their hands before eating.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 21, 2022
They later teamed up for "Martha and Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party" on VH1 and continue to star in spots together.
From Fox News • Sep. 16, 2021
Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party T-Pain and Karrueche Tran join the fun in the first of two new episodes.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 4, 2018
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
