handbag

Definition

A small bag carried in the hand, used either when travelling or to carry tools for a specific job.

Etymology

From hand + bag. The music genre is named from women dancing around a pile of their handbags in nightclubs. The verb is a reference to Margaret Thatcher's handbag.

Example Sentences

• "From a little hand-bag he extracted his automatic pistol, which he put upon the mantelpiece."
• "I put on my new suit and put my watch on and packed the other suit and the accessories and my razor and brushes in my hand bag […]."
• "Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway, and the light of the reflector fell full upon her."