Dictionary

sandbag en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈsændˌbæɡ/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree substratebor. Proto-Indo-European *sámdʰos? Proto-Germanic *samdaz Proto-West Germanic *samd Old English sand Middle English sond English sand Old Norse baggibor.? Old French baguebor.? Middle English bagge English bag English sandbag From sand + bag.

Meanings

1. 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:
2. A small bag filled with sand and used as a cudgel.
3. An engraver's leather cushion, etc.
4. A deceptive play whereby a player with a strong hand bets weakly or passively.
5. (slang) A bag of illicit drugs.
   • Two young bruddas tryna eat off of music / But we used to eat off of pebs and the sandbags 2016, “Thiago Silva”, performed by Dave & AJ Tracey:

Forms

Deriveds

sandbagger

Descendants

샌드백 (punching bag) · サンドバッグ (punching bag)

Translations (26)

pt saco de areia (a bag filled with sand) · ru мешо́к с песко́м (a bag filled with sand) · tr kum torbası (a bag filled with sand) · ja 土嚢 (a bag filled with sand) · fr sac de sable (a bag filled with sand) · id samsak (a bag filled with sand) · az qum kisəsi (a bag filled with sand) · sh vreća sa peskom (a bag filled with sand) · da sandsæk (a bag filled with sand) · az qum çuvalı (a bag filled with sand) · de Sandsack (a bag filled with sand) · cmn 沙袋 (a bag filled with sand) · nn sandsekk (a bag filled with sand) · fi hiekkasäkki (a bag filled with sand) · it sacchetto di sabbia (a bag filled with sand) · mi pēke kirikiri (a bag filled with sand) · ko 모래주머니 (a bag filled with sand) · nb sandsekk (a bag filled with sand) · pl worek z piaskiem (a bag filled with sand) · sv sandsäck (a bag filled with sand) · sh врећа са песком (a bag filled with sand) · ja 土のう (a bag filled with sand) · hu homokzsák (a bag filled with sand) · az qum torbası (a bag filled with sand) · ko 모래자루 (a bag filled with sand) · es saco de arena (a bag filled with sand)

sandbag en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈsændˌbæɡ/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree substratebor. Proto-Indo-European *sámdʰos? Proto-Germanic *samdaz Proto-West Germanic *samd Old English sand Middle English sond English sand Old Norse baggibor.? Old French baguebor.? Middle English bagge English bag English sandbag From sand + bag.

Meanings

1. (intransitive, transitive) To construct a barrier of sandbags (around).
   • 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:
   • 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.
   • Accordingly, we may establish as our principle that the time to sandbag is when you have three of a kind or better, when there are at least five players to act after you, and when your hand is made up of low cards. 1981, Oswald Jacoby, Oswald Jacoby on Poker, Garden City, N.Y.: Dolphin Books, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 36:
   • 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:
   • When playing against a wild man, try to be in a position to pick off his bluffs without too many players remaining behind you who can benefit from the action by sandbagging (passing on big hands and waiting for “sport” to whoop up the betting). 1981, Nesmith C. Ankeny, Poker Strategy: Winning with Game Theory, New York: Basic Books, →ISBN, page 9:
   • 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:
4. (figuratively, transitive) To blindside; to deceive; to undermine.
   • 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:
   • Responding to Axios business editor Dan Primack's assertion that she "sandbagged" Yaccarino by springing the former executive's appearance on her, Swisher maintained that upon learning of his booking earlier Wednesday, it was the X CEO's decision to speak after Roth. 2023 September 28, Benjamin Lindsay, “Kara Swisher Defends Ex-Twitter Exec Upstaging CEO Linda Yaccarino”, in TheWrap:
   • In the past month, President Trump has sideswiped certification of the Iran nuclear deal, sandbagged his own secretary of state’s diplomatic efforts with North Korea, and even provoked the ever-careful Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Bob Corker, to uncork his deepest fears in a series of bombshell interviews. 2017 October 25, Amy Zegart, “Trump Isn't the Only Problem with Trump's Foreign Policy”, in The Atlantic:
   • [Shane Black:] And keep in mind, I got sandbagged by this one reporter in like 1999 or 2000. He said, "I'm a big fan of your work; I'd love to do a story on you." And after he had interviewed me, he said, "Oh, by the way, I'm going to kind of crunch your words together to make it look like you're talking. I'll sort of take my voice out of it." And it turns out the article is called “Letters from Oblivion” and it was basically about has-beens. But because he was able to put it in my own words it sounded like I was complicit in the article. Like, "As a has-been, here's what I'd like to say about it." 2016 May 16, Zach Baron, “Why Shane Black's The Nice Guys Was 15 Years in the Making”, in GQ:
   • “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 “sandbagging Kennedy's surge.” 1982, William Safire, What's the Good Word?, New York: Times Books, →ISBN, page 263:
5. (intransitive, qualifier:restaurant kitchen jargon, transitive) 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".

Forms

Synonyms

downplay

Translations (23)

de überrumpeln (to blindside or deceive) · pl zwieść (to blindside or deceive) · pl upozorowywać (to pretend to drink early on so that, as the night draws on, one can drink everybody else "under the table") · pl omamić (to blindside or deceive) · pt esconder o jogo (to conceal or misrepresent one's true position) · fi tyrmätä hiekkasäkillä (to strike someone with a sandbag or other object to disable or render unconscious) · pl tworzyć barierę z worków z piaskiem (to construct a barrier of sandbags around) · pl upozorowywać (to conceal or misrepresent one's true position) · de tiefstapeln (to conceal or misrepresent one's true position) · pl pozorować (to pretend to drink early on so that, as the night draws on, one can drink everybody else "under the table") · pl omamiać (to blindside or deceive) · pl mamić (to blindside or deceive) · pl pozorować (to conceal or misrepresent one's true position) · fi muurata hiekkasäkeillä (to construct a barrier of sandbags around) · pl uderzyć workiem z piaskiem (to strike someone with a sandbag or other object to disable or render unconscious) · fi hämätä (to conceal or misrepresent one's true position) · pl upozorować (to conceal or misrepresent one's true position) · pl zwodzić (to blindside or deceive) · pl stworzyć barierę z worków z piaskiem (to construct a barrier of sandbags around) · fi teeskennellä juovansa (to pretend to drink early on so that, as the night draws on, one can drink everybody else "under the table") · pl upozorować (to pretend to drink early on so that, as the night draws on, one can drink everybody else "under the table") · pl uderzać workiem z piaskiem (to strike someone with a sandbag or other object to disable or render unconscious) · es remolonear (to conceal or misrepresent one's true position)