sandbag
Americanverb (used with object)
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sandbags,
present (3rd person singular)
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sandbagged,
past participle, past
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sandbagging
present participle
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to furnish with sandbags.
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to hit or stun with a sandbag.
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Informal.
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to set upon violently; attack from or as if from ambush.
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to coerce or intimidate, as by threats.
The election committee was sandbagged into nominating the officers for a second term.
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to thwart or cause to fail or be rejected, especially surreptitiously or without warning.
He sandbagged our proposal with his snide remarks to the boss.
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Poker. to deceive (one or more opponents) into remaining in the pot by refraining from betting on a strong hand, then raising the bet in a later round.
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Informal. to gain an advantage over (one or more competitors) by concealing one's abilities or other strengths early in a game or other competitive activity.
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Informal. to gain an advantage by concealing or downplaying the strengths of (something).
companies that sandbag their earnings estimates and then easily beat them to make everyone happy.
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verb (used without object)
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sandbags,
present (3rd person singular)
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sandbagged,
past participle, past
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sandbagging
present participle
noun
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a sack filled with sand used for protection against gunfire, floodwater, etc, or as ballast in a balloon, ship, etc
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a bag filled with sand and used as a weapon
verb
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to protect or strengthen with sandbags
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to hit with or as if with a sandbag
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finance to obstruct (an unwelcome takeover bid) by prolonging talks in the hope that an acceptable bidder will come forward
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sandbagsimple
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sandbagssimple
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have sandbaggedperfect
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has sandbaggedperfect
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am sandbaggingprogressive
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are sandbaggingprogressive
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is sandbaggingprogressive
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have been sandbaggingperfect progressive
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has been sandbaggingperfect progressive
Past
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sandbaggedsimple
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had sandbaggedperfect
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was sandbaggingprogressive
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were sandbaggingprogressive
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had been sandbaggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sandbag
Explanation
A sandbag is a big bag of sand. If a hurricane is coming, chuck a sandbag or two by the beach house to keep the water out. Also, to sandbag someone is to trick or bully them into doing something. Sand is inexpensive and heavy, which is why sandbags are used for jobs like protecting vehicles and buildings during bombings or storms, or balancing the total weight on a boat. When you use sandbag as a verb, it either means to protect with sandbags or to deceive or coerce someone to get something you want. When you pretend that you're terrible at basketball just so you can beat your cousin in one-on-one, you sandbag her.
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.
See Examples For:
Exercises in the competition are similar to those found in athletic gyms, such as burpee broad jumps and sandbag lunges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Do I have a sandbag to rest my head on while all this melee is happening around me?'
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
To guard in the event of a spill, authorities set up sandbag barriers to block the chemical from storm drains that lead to the ocean.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
Ultimately, Bertrand removes a 50-pound sandbag from the counterweight bin, tightens the sling, and realigns the wooden trough.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025
Still, my great white looked like it was frozen on the page, a sandbag, accessorized by some deluxe fins.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
Outside the Fun Zone, black sandbags were stacked up along the peninsula’s vast network of seawalls, giving them a few more inches of protection from the rising tide.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
The city had sent out volunteers to knock on people’s doors, asking them to build seawalls using anything they had, including sandbags provided by the city, or wood, Vukojevic said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
Officials urged residents of flood-prone areas “to take precautions now,” including moving cars to higher ground and protecting property with sandbags.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
The city said it would provide sandbags at three locations and encouraged residents with private seawalls to reinforce them if necessary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026
Most huts, Ellsberg saw, did have some kind of shelter—holes in the ground, or sandbags in the corner.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
But these soldiers, in Shaab-al-Jinn in Lahj governorate, showed us new sandbagged defences - new lines in the sand.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
While shop owners sandbagged the entrances to their stores and boarded up the doors and windows, there was little sense of impending disaster.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Scholz visited Reichertshofen, north of Munich, inspecting a sandbagged river bank and meeting regional officials including Markus Söder, Bavaria’s governor.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
The neo-Baroque opera house is no longer sandbagged, but the war still feels ever present.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2024
“We’ll have to inform everybody simultaneously, as soon as possible. I want to start with Fred Murphy at the C.D.C. I don’t want him to be sandbagged by this.”
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
Starting any new car company in America, let alone an electric one, requires uncanny maneuvering and persistence against every kind of bureaucratic, regulatory and political sandbagging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
Institute experts also looked at the possibility of models "sandbagging" - or strategically hiding their true capabilities from testers.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025
Bill Hwang is seeking the dismissal of his U.S. fraud indictment over the collapse of his once-$36 billion Archegos Capital Management LP, saying prosecutors committed misconduct by sandbagging him when building their case.
From Reuters ● Dec. 5, 2022
Early on, the city braced for a potential Russian amphibious attack, shoring up defenses, sandbagging pastel-colored buildings, blocking off key approaches with antitank “hedgehogs” fashioned from steel beams.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2022
The sandbagging on the ground-floor windows was reinforced, and civilian contractors were on the roofs checking the firmness of the chimney stacks and the concreted skylights.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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