grab bag

plural grab bags · alternative grabbag · alternative grab-bag

1. A gift, purchase, etc. whose contents are concealed until after a selection is made; a bag as gift that comprises mystery prizes.

   Winners can choose a gift from the grab bags on the table.

   Synonyms: mystery bag

2. A bag from which a gift or prize may be withdrawn (grabbed) unseen.

   Synonyms: mystery bag

3. figurativelyAny random assortment, selection or possibility.

   With that system, it's a grab bag which files we can find at any moment.

   3 more examples

   There were now a grab bag of southern country-rock units with a new wrinkle—Black Oak Arkansas, for one, combined psychedelia, fifties rock, Hindu spiritualism, and gospel into “psycho-boogie,” or “raunch 'n' roll.”

   2015, Mark Ribowsky, Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars

   There was no location, really — most of the convention took place in a Milwaukee of the mind. […] Instead, the teleconvention kept a few standards (like the Bruce Springsteen–soundtracked montage) and borrowed from a grab bag of other TV formats, from talk show to cable news to reality-TV reunion special.

   2020 August 18, James Poniewozik, “A D.N.C. Opening Night for the New Abnormal”, in The New York Times

   While this piece is less scattered than Hearne’s most recent major work, “Place,” a deeply personal reflection on gentrification, “Farming,” too, feels like a grab bag into which there’s always assumed to be room for yet one more idea.

   2023 July 10, Zachary Woolfe, “Review: Ted Hearne’s Sweet, Sad American Elegy”, in The New York Times

   Synonyms: lucky dip, mixed bag, ragbag, hodgepodge, bouillabaisse, bric-a-brac, catch-all, clamjamfrey

4. A moderately large bag of crisps or other snack, suitable for sharing.
5. A bag containing essential items, which can be easily picked up and taken in an emergency.

   Synonyms: bug-out bag, go bag