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Glite Dictionary
hand luggage

hand luggage

3 1.8
Small bags you carry onto a plane or train instead of checking them
  • noun
  • /hænd ˈlʌɡɪdʒ/
  • UK
translation icon : equipaje de mano
  • She packed her hand luggage with a laptop and a few personal items for the trip.
  • a piece of hand luggage

But I always take these whether they're in my like hand luggage or just in my suitcase.

Examples

  • Make sure your hand luggage meets the airline's size restrictions before you head to the airport.

  • Passengers hoping to save money by flying on Spirit Airlines will now face $100 fines if they decide to bring hand luggage on board.

    Blog text (3)

  • But all I have is hand luggage.

    Last Chance Harvey (2008)

  • - Sir, that is not hand luggage.

    Last Chance Harvey (2008)

  • I had a lot of hand luggage, mostly gifts my mother sent with me, electronic.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Aren't golf clubs classified as hand luggage?

    Torn Curtain (1966)

  • This letter should also state that the traveler's CPAP machine should travel in the cabin as extra hand luggage.

    Academic text (2012)

  • The hand luggage was screened, the passport was checked, he went through a magnetometer, but it was done by Dutch authorities.

    Blog text (28)

  • Travellers with airways disease should always be reminded to carry their inhalers (and spacer if appropriate) in their hand luggage.

    Academic text (2012)

  • I always prefer to travel with only hand luggage to avoid waiting at the baggage claim.

Synonyms

carry-on
vshand luggage
  • US
35 2.3

A small bag a passenger can take onto an airplane

is used for small bags carried onto various travel types not only airplanes

Antonyms

cargo
537 2.3

Goods carried by a ship, plane, or large vehicle

checked baggage
  • US
2 2.3

Bags you give to an airline that it carries under the plane

How Big

checked baggage
  • US
2 2.3
hand luggage
  • UK
3 1.8
travel kit
1 3.0

Surface Forms

hand luggage singular
hand luggages plural

Morphology

hand + luggage

The meaning 'small bags you carry with you onto a plane' is directly derivable from combining 'hand' (by hand) with 'luggage' (bags for travel); it literally denotes luggage carried in the hand or kept with the passenger. This compositional pattern is common across languages (e.g., Spanish 'equipaje de mano', French 'bagage à main') and would be clear to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Hand luggage comes from the simple idea of small bags you keep by your hand or close to you while you travel. One clear image is a bag kept with you in the cabin rather than 'checked in', so the phrase means 'small bags you carry with you onto the plane'.