Meaning & use
bagful
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Meanings
nouncountable
the amount that a bag can hold
Grammar: Countable: use 'a bagful' or 'two bagfuls'. Often followed by 'of' plus a plural noun: a bagful of coins.
Patterns
- a bagful of something
- bagfuls of something
- a bagful
She picked a bagful of ripe tomatoes from the garden.
He brought home two bagfuls of groceries.
The children collected a bagful of shells on the beach.
nounsingularinformal
a large amount of something, especially when it is more than expected
Grammar: Used in informal speech, usually in the phrase 'a bagful of' to mean 'a lot of'.
Patterns
- a bagful of something
He told us a bagful of jokes during the trip.
She has a bagful of excuses for being late.
Word forms
| plural | bagfuls |
|---|
Common combinations
- a bagful of
- I bought a bagful of oranges at the market.
- a whole bagful
- He ate a whole bagful of candy.
- bagfuls of
- They carried bagfuls of leaves to the compost heap.
- a bagful of money
- The thief escaped with a bagful of money.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sackful
- Sackful means the amount a sack can hold, which is usually larger than a bagful.
- pocketful
- Pocketful means the amount a pocket can hold, which is much smaller and not a bag.
Word family
Commonly confused: bagful or bagfuls?
bagful vs bagfuls
This is the plural of bagful, not a different word. Use 'bagfuls' for more than one bagful.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The correct answer is 'She bought three bagfuls of apples.' 'Bagful' is a countable noun, so the plural 'bagfuls' is needed after 'three'. Also, 'of' is required before the noun, and 'apples' should be plural because we are talking about more than one apple.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bagful”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.