Meanings
plural handbaggings
- UKhumorousA verbal attack or criticism.
In Downing Street there was urgent fury, and it was coming from Margaret Thatcher, ready to give a handbagging to anyone who got in her way.
2014 November 10, Jon Sopel, “And then Ron said to Maggie”, in BBC News2 more examples
Much of the resistance to women at the altar had always derived from women in the pews; Dr Hewitt's handbagging style helped to undermine the feminists' refrain that these women's conservatism was the result of brutal oppression by men.
1994, Jonathan Petre, By Sex Divided: The Church of England and Women Priests, Fount, →ISBN, page 100I think the short answer is that six weeks ago the Prime Minister was promising his Back Benchers a handbagging for Europe, but now he is reduced to hand wringing.
2011 December 7, Ed Miliband, “Engagements”, in Hansard, volume 537, House of CommonsSynonyms: harangue, rant, tirade, animadversion, criticization, stricture, animadversion, criticism
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of handbag
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA verbal attack or criticism.
Origin
From handbag + -ing. Originally, a metonymic reference to Margaret Thatcher's handbag.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
handbagging. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handbagging
“handbagging.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handbagging. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “handbagging,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handbagging.
Source: handbagging on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.