variants
or catch-all
plural catchalls or catch-alls
: something designed or serving to catch, hold, account for, or include miscellaneous items or a wide variety of things
The secret weapon for battling kitchen clutter in this case is a simple tray. … The trays act as catch-alls or places to neatly store anything that gets left out.—
Marie Rossiter
Marie RossiterAfter a period of rapidly rising consumer prices, "inflation" is a catchall for economic woes.—Edward Lotterman
—often used before another nounEdward Lottermana catchall bin
… long COVID, the catchall term for the sometimes debilitating health problems that can last for months or years after even a mild case of COVID-19.—Lauran Neergaard
Lauran NeergaardExamples of catchall in a Sentence
They used the drawer as a catchall for kitchen items.
“The arts” is a catchall for a variety of activities from painting to music.
Recent Examples on the Web
Government lawyers contend the obstruction charge filed against 1 in 4 Jan. 6 defendants is a catchall that covers the interruption to Congress meeting.
—Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
The concept—a generic catchall for club music born in Latin America and its diaspora—appeared everywhere: in tweets, newsletters, and trend pieces; Instagram notes, Bandcamp tags, and press releases.
—Isabelia Herrera, Pitchfork, 22 Mar. 2024
The organization acts as a catchall for social services, providing free therapy, rent and utility assistance, job placement, child support services and felony expungement.
—Zachary Linhares, Kansas City Star, 4 Feb. 2024
Security has become a catchall term for the Chinese leadership’s obsession with defusing threats to China’s rise — especially from the United States.
—Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024
In addition to being a great catchall for all the toys, games, and other knick knacks lying around, these can also pull double duty to store pillows and blankets when your kids get older.
—Dorian Smith-Garcia, Parents, 26 Nov. 2023
One of the fastest-growing segments of the Academy is the members-at-large, a catchall group for agents, executives, stunt people, etc.
—Vulture, 29 Jan. 2024
Perhaps the most important role Samsung hopes Ballie will fill is that of a catchall home caretaker.
—Chris Velazco, Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2024
The new consensus has become known as neoliberalism, a word that in recent years has turned into a catchall epithet to describe the views of moderate Democrats and conservatives.
—David Leonhardt, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2023
Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
The concept—a generic catchall for club music born in Latin America and its diaspora—appeared everywhere: in tweets, newsletters, and trend pieces; Instagram notes, Bandcamp tags, and press releases.
—Isabelia Herrera, Pitchfork, 22 Mar. 2024
The organization acts as a catchall for social services, providing free therapy, rent and utility assistance, job placement, child support services and felony expungement.
—Zachary Linhares, Kansas City Star, 4 Feb. 2024
Security has become a catchall term for the Chinese leadership’s obsession with defusing threats to China’s rise — especially from the United States.
—Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024
In addition to being a great catchall for all the toys, games, and other knick knacks lying around, these can also pull double duty to store pillows and blankets when your kids get older.
—Dorian Smith-Garcia, Parents, 26 Nov. 2023
One of the fastest-growing segments of the Academy is the members-at-large, a catchall group for agents, executives, stunt people, etc.
—Vulture, 29 Jan. 2024
Perhaps the most important role Samsung hopes Ballie will fill is that of a catchall home caretaker.
—Chris Velazco, Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2024
The new consensus has become known as neoliberalism, a word that in recent years has turned into a catchall epithet to describe the views of moderate Democrats and conservatives.
—David Leonhardt, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'catchall.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near catchall
Cite this Entry
“Catchall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catchall. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
catchall
noun
catch·all
ˈkach-ˌȯl 
ˈkech-
: something to hold a variety of odds and ends
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