POTLUCK

potluck

(noun) whatever happens to be available especially when offered to an unexpected guest or when brought by guests and shared by all; “having arrived unannounced we had to take potluck”; “a potluck supper”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

potluck (countable and uncountable, plural potlucks) (also attributively)

(dated) A meal, especially one offered to a guest, consisting of whatever food is available.

(by extension) Whatever is available in a particular situation.

(originally, Canada, US) A shared meal consisting of whatever guests have brought (sometimes without prior arrangement); a potlatch; also, a dish of food brought to such a meal.

Synonym: fuddle (Britain, dialectal)

(obsolete) The last draft or portion of an alcoholic beverage in a pot or other drinking vessel.

Usage notes

Sense 3 of the term is widespread in American English, though the Dictionary of American Regional English finds that it is less common in the South, the Mid-Atlantic states, and New York than elsewhere.

Anagrams

• putlock

Source: Wiktionary

Pot"luck`, n.

Definition: Whatever may chance to be in the pot, or may be provided for a meal. A woman whose potluck was always to be relied on. G. Eliot. To take potluck, to take what food may chance to be provided.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition