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
But compatibility is in the eye of the beholder, and in practice this gives boards a catchall mechanism to say no.
—Michael McShane, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
And there’s a kinship between modern medicine’s aim to ascribe psychiatric disorders to a handful of chemicals in our brains and the medical catchall of the four-humors framework of centuries past.
—Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
And don't let the entryway be a catchall for returns, items to donate, and the like, notes Madison Massaro, the founder of Madison Lea Interiors in Tampa, Florida.
—Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 15 Aug. 2025
The catchall phrase is shorthand for the unfiltered actions of a person who is angry, anxious, confused, stressed out, or experiencing mental health issues.
—Kyndall Cunningham, Vox, 29 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for catchall
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Michael McShane, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
And there’s a kinship between modern medicine’s aim to ascribe psychiatric disorders to a handful of chemicals in our brains and the medical catchall of the four-humors framework of centuries past.
—Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
And don't let the entryway be a catchall for returns, items to donate, and the like, notes Madison Massaro, the founder of Madison Lea Interiors in Tampa, Florida.
—Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 15 Aug. 2025
The catchall phrase is shorthand for the unfiltered actions of a person who is angry, anxious, confused, stressed out, or experiencing mental health issues.
—Kyndall Cunningham, Vox, 29 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for catchall
Cite this Entry
“Catchall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catchall. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
catchall
noun
catch·all
ˈkach-ˌȯl 
ˈkech-
: something to hold a variety of odds and ends
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