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
Better still, each candle comes in an evergreen ceramic tree vessel that can be repurposed as a peppermint dish or a catchall tray after burning.
—Maria Conti, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Dec. 2024
Some chose to make more than one, resulting in 104 casseroles (used here as a catchall term) that were delivered to Bowman at One Heart and would wind up on the tables of 104 families.
—Amy Drew Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 27 Nov. 2024
The county jail has become a catchall for both lawbreakers and mentally ill people, due to a lack of appropriate facilities or programs to treat mental illness, according to Krish Gundu, co-founder and executive director of Texas Jail Project, a jail reform advocacy group.
—Bianca Moreno-Paz, Austin American-Statesman, 8 July 2024
Eagleton peppers his vague promises of better living through technology with references to Jeffrey Epstein, 5G, Anthony Fauci, and scores of other catchall male grievances and desires.
—Ian Crouch, The New Yorker, 29 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for catchall 
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Maria Conti, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Dec. 2024
Some chose to make more than one, resulting in 104 casseroles (used here as a catchall term) that were delivered to Bowman at One Heart and would wind up on the tables of 104 families.
—Amy Drew Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 27 Nov. 2024
The county jail has become a catchall for both lawbreakers and mentally ill people, due to a lack of appropriate facilities or programs to treat mental illness, according to Krish Gundu, co-founder and executive director of Texas Jail Project, a jail reform advocacy group.
—Bianca Moreno-Paz, Austin American-Statesman, 8 July 2024
Eagleton peppers his vague promises of better living through technology with references to Jeffrey Epstein, 5G, Anthony Fauci, and scores of other catchall male grievances and desires.
—Ian Crouch, The New Yorker, 29 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for catchall
Dictionary Entries Near catchall
Cite this Entry
“Catchall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catchall. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
catchall
noun
catch·all
ˈkach-ˌȯl 
ˈkech-
: something to hold a variety of odds and ends
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