nose bag

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A bag holding food that is hung over a horse's or other animal's nose so it can eat while working or traveling.

   Grammar: Countable: a nose bag, two nose bags. Often used with 'in' or 'from': eating from a nose bag.

   Patterns

   • put on a nose bag
   • eat from a nose bag
   • a horse's nose bag

   The driver put a nose bag on the horse during the lunch break.

   The mule ate quietly from its nose bag beside the road.

   Nose bags are still used by some farmers when animals work far from the barn.

2. 2nouncountableinformalBritishold-fashioned

   A meal, especially one carried to work or eaten quickly.

   Grammar: Informal and countable: grab a nose bag. Usually singular in this sense.

   Patterns

   • grab a nose bag
   • have a nose bag

   Let's grab a nose bag before the afternoon shift starts.

   He brought his nose bag and ate in the staff room.

Word forms

Common combinations

put a nose bag on

She put a nose bag on the pony before the long ride.

eat from a nose bag

The horses ate from their nose bags while we rested.

grab a nose bag

We grabbed a nose bag at the station café.

fill a nose bag

He filled the nose bag with oats and fastened it.

Synonyms and how they differ

feed bag

The usual American term for the animal's food bag; nose bag is more common in British English.

snack

A small amount of food eaten between meals; the informal 'nose bag' means a full meal, not a snack.

Word family

nosebag noun

The solid spelling, common in American English.

Commonly confused: nose bag or noseband?

Practice

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