Standard Lemma guide

handbag

noun · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK, US: /ˈhændˌbæɡ/
  • UK, US: /ˈhæm.bəɡ/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AE1 N D B AE2 G Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A small bag used chiefly by women for carrying various small personal items, sometimes considered as a fashion accessory.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Commonwealth, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: purse

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Ellipsis of handbag house.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, uncountable

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To attack verbally or subject to criticism (typically used of a woman).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, humorous, idiomatic, metonymically, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she reached into her bag and found a comb

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bag, pocketbook, purse

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: container

Narrower terms: clutch bag, clutch, etui, evening bag, reticule, shoulder bag

History

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.

Across languages

Translations

134 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: handsak — small bag carried in the hand
  • Albanian: çantë dore — small bag carried in the hand
  • Albanian: kuletë — small bag carried in the hand
  • Arabic: حَقِيبَةُ يَد (ḥaqībatu yad) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Arabic: مَثْبَنَة (maṯbana) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Arabic: شَنْطَة (šanṭa) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܓ̰ܲܢܛܵܐ (janṭā) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Armenian: ձեռքի պայուսակ (jeṙkʻi payusak) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Armenian: պայուսակ (payusak) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Azerbaijani: çanta — small bag carried in the hand
  • Azerbaijani: əl çantası — small bag carried in the hand
  • Belarusian: су́мачка (súmačka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Belarusian: то́рбачка (tórbačka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Belarusian: рыдыкю́ль (rydykjúlʹ) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Bengali: হাতব্যাগ (hatobbag) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Bengali: হ্যান্ডব্যাগ (hênḍobbag) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Breton: sac'h-dorn — small bag carried in the hand
  • Bulgarian: да́мска ча́нта (dámska čánta) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Bulgarian: ча́нта (čánta) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Burmese: လက်ကိုင်အိတ် (lakkuing-it) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Burmese: လက်ဆွဲအိတ် (lakhcwai:it) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Burmese: လက်ပွေ့အိတ် (lakpwe.it) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Catalan: bossa de mà — small bag carried in the hand
  • Chinese Cantonese: 手袋 — small bag carried in the hand
  • Chinese: kha-báng (zh-min-nan) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Chinese Mandarin: 手提包 (shǒutíbāo) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Chinese Mandarin: 手袋 (shǒudài) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Cornish: tigen — small bag carried in the hand
  • Czech: kabelka — small bag carried in the hand
  • Danish: håndtaske — small bag carried in the hand
  • Dutch: handtas — small bag carried in the hand
  • Esperanto: mansaketo — small bag carried in the hand
  • Esperanto: mansako — small bag carried in the hand
  • Estonian: käekott — small bag carried in the hand
  • Finnish: käsilaukku — small bag carried in the hand
  • French: sac à main — small bag carried in the hand
  • French: sacoche — small bag carried in the hand
  • Georgian: ხელჩანთა (xelčanta) — small bag carried in the hand
  • German: Handtasche — small bag carried in the hand
  • Greek: τσάντα (tsánta) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Haitian Creole: valiz — small bag carried in the hand
  • Hebrew: תִּיק יָד (tik yad) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Hindi: हैंडबैग (haiṇḍbaig) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Hungarian: kézitáska — small bag carried in the hand
  • Icelandic: handtaska — small bag carried in the hand
  • Indonesian: tas tangan — small bag carried in the hand
  • Irish: mála láimhe — small bag carried in the hand
  • Italian: borsetta — small bag carried in the hand
  • Japanese: 手鞄 (tekaban) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Japanese: 手提げ鞄 (tesagekaban) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Japanese: ハンドバッグ (handobaggu) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Japanese: 手提げバッグ (tesagebaggu) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Japanese: 鞄 (kaban) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Kazakh: сөмке (sömke) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Kazakh: қолдорба (qoldorba) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Kazakh: қол сөмкесі (qol sömkesı) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Khmer: កាបូបយួរ (kaaboup yuə) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Khmer: កំប្រោងយួរ (kɑmpraong yuə) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Korean: 핸드백 (haendeubaek) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Korean: 손가방 (son'gabang) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Korean: 가방 (gabang) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Northern Kurdish: çantê destan — small bag carried in the hand
  • Kyrgyz: баштык (baştık) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Kyrgyz: сумка (sumka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Kyrgyz: кол сомкеси (kol somkesi) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Lao: ກະເປົາຖື (ka pao thư̄) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Latvian: rokassoma — small bag carried in the hand
  • Lithuanian: rankinė — small bag carried in the hand
  • Luxembourgish: Posch — small bag carried in the hand
  • Macedonian: рачна торба (račna torba) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Macedonian: чанта (čanta) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Macedonian: торба (torba) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Malay: beg tangan — small bag carried in the hand
  • Maltese: ħendbeg — small bag carried in the hand
  • Mokilese: ainpehk — small bag carried in the hand
  • Mongolian: гар цүнх (gar cünx) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Norwegian Bokmål: håndveske — small bag carried in the hand
  • Norwegian Bokmål: handveske — small bag carried in the hand
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: handveske — small bag carried in the hand
  • Pashto: د لاس کڅوړه (də lās kačoṛa) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Pashto: لاس بکس (lās baks) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Dari: بَکْسِ دَسْتِی (baks-i dastī) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Dari: بَکْس (baks) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Iranian Persian: کیفِ دَسْتی (kif-e dasti) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Iranian Persian: کیف (kif) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Plautdietsch: Jelttausch — small bag carried in the hand
  • Polish: torebka — small bag carried in the hand
  • Portuguese: bolsa — small bag carried in the hand
  • Portuguese: mala — small bag carried in the hand
  • Romanian: geantă — small bag carried in the hand
  • Romanian: џанта (geanta) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Russian: су́мочка (súmočka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Russian: ридикю́ль (ridikjúlʹ) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Russian: су́мка (súmka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Russian: да́мская су́мочка (dámskaja súmočka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Serbo-Croatian: то̀рбица — small bag carried in the hand
  • Serbo-Croatian: та̀шка — small bag carried in the hand
  • Serbo-Croatian: ручна торба — small bag carried in the hand
  • Serbo-Croatian: tòrbica — small bag carried in the hand
  • Serbo-Croatian: tàška — small bag carried in the hand
  • Serbo-Croatian: ručna torba — small bag carried in the hand
  • Slovak: kabelka — small bag carried in the hand
  • Slovene: torbica — small bag carried in the hand
  • Spanish: bolsa — small bag carried in the hand
  • Spanish: bolso — small bag carried in the hand
  • Spanish: bulto — small bag carried in the hand
  • Spanish: cartera — small bag carried in the hand
  • Swedish: handväska — small bag carried in the hand
  • Tajik: капчуки дастӣ (kapčuk-i dasti) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Tajik: сумка (sumka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Tajik: сумкаи дастӣ (sumka-yi dasti) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Tajik: халта (xalta) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Tajik: халтаи дастӣ (xalta-yi dasti) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Thai: กระเป๋าถือ (grà-bpǎo-tʉ̌ʉ) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Thai: กระเป๋าหิ้ว (grà-bpǎo-hîu) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Tibetan: ལག་འབེག — small bag carried in the hand
  • Turkish: el çantası — small bag carried in the hand
  • Turkish: çanta — small bag carried in the hand
  • Turkmen: el sumkasy — small bag carried in the hand
  • Ukrainian: су́мочка (súmočka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Ukrainian: то́рбочка (tórbočka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Ukrainian: торби́нка (torbýnka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Ukrainian: ридикю́ль (rydykjúlʹ) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Ukrainian: жіно́ча су́мка (žinóča súmka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Urdu: ہَینْڈ بَیگ (hainḍ baig) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Urdu: دَسْتی بَٹْوَہ (dastī baṭva) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Urdu: دَسْتی بَیگ (dastī baig) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Uyghur: قول سومكىسى (qol somkisi) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Uyghur: سومكا (somka) — small bag carried in the hand
  • Uzbek: sumka — small bag carried in the hand
  • Vietnamese: túi xách tay — small bag carried in the hand
  • Vietnamese: bị cầm tay — small bag carried in the hand
  • Vietnamese: túi xách — small bag carried in the hand
  • Welsh: bag llaw — small bag carried in the hand