# potluck

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˌpɒtˈlʌk/ · frequency rank #50,733

## Definitions
1. A meal, especially one offered to a guest, consisting of whatever food is available.
2. Whatever is available in a particular situation.
3. 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.
4. The last draft or portion of an alcoholic beverage in a pot or other drinking vessel.

## Etymology
From pot + luck. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, sense 3 (“a shared meal consisting of whatever guests have brought”) is unlikely to have been influenced by potlatch even though it has the same meaning.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/potluck