grocery bag
11
1.0
- noun
- /ˈɡroʊsəri bæg/
:
bolsa de la compra
- I gathered all the newspapers and put them in grocery bags for recycling.
- a plastic grocery bag
- a paper grocery bag
- a brown grocery bag
Examples
-
Pretty housewives in jeans and aprons hurry along the streets with grocery bags, their white sneakers smacking the pavement.
Fiction book (1996) -
I looked at my grocery bag full of bits and pieces and carefully rolled the bag shut.
Fiction book (1999) -
The lady told me to set the grocery bag in the kitchen.
-
I got some grocery bags at the general store I gotta pick up.
-
And then also I have here a big old grocery bag of snacks.
-
Without looking at her, he sat the grocery bag on the counter.
Fiction book (1994) -
Ben comes out of the market carrying several grocery bags and a small prescription bag.
Fiction book (2002) -
Esperanza noticed a girl and a woman walking hand in hand, each with a grocery bag in her other arm.
Academic text (2016) -
Jillian put down the last of the grocery bags and glanced over at the answering machine.
Fiction book (2001) -
Ben comes out of the market carrying several grocery bags and a small prescription bag.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A flexible container for carrying personal things like books or clothes
117
1.0
A large bag made of paper, plastic or cloth for carrying things
77
1.0
A thin bag made of plastic for carrying or storing things
42
1.0
A bag made of paper that shops use to carry things you buy
14
1.0
A bag, usually plastic or thick paper with handles, used to carry things after shopping
12
1.8
A large strong cloth container with two long handles for carrying books or shopping
3
2.4
A simple paper bag used to carry a packed lunch
2
3.2
A bag made from rough cloth used to carry or store things
1
1.7
A bag shops give you to carry things you buy home
How Durable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently composed from 'grocery' (items bought for household use) + 'bag' (a portable container); a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer it refers to a bag for carrying groceries. This noun–noun compound follows a common, cross-linguistic compositional pattern and contains no idiomatic or metaphorical shift.
Etymology
Grocery bag comes from the simple picture of food you buy at a shop, a grocery, being put into a bag to carry home. That's why it means 'a bag used by customers to carry groceries from a store'.