in the bag

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in the bag

1. (idiomatic) Certain or extremely likely to occur; virtually assured of victory or success.
   • 1862, Julie Rose (translator), Victor Hugo (author), Les Miserables (2009 edition), →ISBN, p. 631:

     "Listen carefully. We've got him, this Croesus! As good as. It's in the bag. It's all arranged."

   • 1954, Charles Percy Snow, The New Men (2001 edition), →ISBN, p. 61:

     "We mustn't count our eggs before they're hatched, but I think it's in the bag," he said.

2. (idiomatic) Intoxicated.
   • 2004, Les Visible, The Dark Splendour, →ISBN, p. 97:

     "It's like the way it is for an alcoholic when he can't get a drink. . . . He bumps into more things now than he did when he was in the bag."

• (certain to occur): cinched, guaranteed, inevitable
• (intoxicated): See Thesaurus:drunk

• in the bag at OneLook Dictionary Search

• be a thing, beathing