potluck

== English == === Etymology === From pot +‎ luck. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, sense 3 (“a shared meal consisting of whatever guests have brought”) is unlikely to have been influenced by potlatch. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌpɒtˈlʌk/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɑtˌlʌk/, /-ˌlək/ (Northern England, Ireland) IPA(key): /ˌpɒtˈlʊk/ Rhymes: -ʌk, -ɒtlʌk Hyphenation: pot‧luck === Noun === potluck (countable and uncountable, plural potlucks) (also attributive) (dated) A meal, especially one offered to a guest, consisting of whatever food is available. (by extension) Whatever is available in a particular situation. (originally Canada, US) A shared meal consisting of whatever guests have brought (sometimes without prior arrangement); a potlatch; also, a dish of food brought to such a meal. Synonym: (Britain, dialectal) fuddle (obsolete) The last draft or portion of an alcoholic beverage in a pot or other drinking vessel. ==== Usage notes ==== Sense 3 of the term is widespread in American English, though the Dictionary of American Regional English finds that it is less common in the South, the Mid-Atlantic states, and New York than elsewhere. ==== Alternative forms ==== pot luck pot-luck ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === potluck (third-person singular simple present potlucks, present participle potlucking, simple past and past participle potlucked) (intransitive) To take part in a potluck, where each participant brings a meal to be shared by all. === See also === brown bag === References === === Further reading === potluck on Wikipedia.Wikipedia John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers and editors (1902), “Pot-luck”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present: […], volume V (N. to Razzle-dazzle), London: Printed for subscribers only, →OCLC, pages 273–274. “potluck”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. “potluck”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present. Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “potluck”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. === Anagrams === putlock