feed bag, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

feed bag n.

1. (US) food, eating; esp. in phr. put on the feed bag

1904		C. Connors Bowery Life [ebook] Ev'ry bloke dat wuz hungry would have a feed bag an w'enever he wanted it.
1952		(con. 1920s) ‘Harry Grey’ Hoods (1953) 178: ‘How about the feed bag? Ain’t we entitled?’.
1962		P. Crump Burn, Killer, Burn! 147: As I passed the Greasy Spoon, someone rapped on the window. It was Velma. She [...] sure loved the feedbag.

2. (Aus.) the face; the mouth.

1906

E. Dyson Fact’ry ’Ands 54: The bloke that comes canoodlin’ here gets that [i.e. a paste-pot] in his feed-bag!

3. (drugs) a container for narcotics or marijuana.

1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore 59: Feed bag – A drug addict’s container of narcotics. Also, the narcotics.
1971		J.T. Dunigan Drug Abuse.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 9: Feed bag — Container for marijuana.

4. (US campus) an appetite.

1998

Eble Campus Sl. Nov. 3: feedbag – appetite: ‘It’s Thanksgiving, and I’m getting my feedbag on’.

In phrases

put on the feed bag (v.) (also get on the feed bag, put on the bag, strap on a feedbag, tie on...)

to eat.

1904		C. Connors Bowery Life [ebook] I sees wun uv dese joints an’ I t'inks dat de next time I feel like puttin’ er feed bag on dat I'll give it er try out.
1913		T.A. Dorgan Indoor Sports 20 Dec. [synd. cartoon] Gee, it’s about 6 o’clock. How about putting the feed bag on.
1926		R. Lardner ‘Rhythm’ in Coll. Short Stories (1941) 355: Fine! And now how about putting on the feed bag?
1927		(ref. to 1880s) Facts abt. N.Y. 10: Johnny Meehan, the bearded proprietor of Dolan’s, had a wide acquaintance among politicians. [...] Frequently he paused to get some friend, perhaps Theodore Roosevelt, then Police Commissioner, or the Mayor, who had just arrived to ‘put the bag on,’ as the waiters would say.
1929		J.A. Russell ‘Colloquial Expressions from Madison County, NY’ in AS V:2 152: Tie on the feed-bag: sit down to a regular meal. ‘Let’s tie on the feed-bag.’.
c.1935		Cab Calloway & His Orchestra ‘Two Blocks Down, Turn to the Left’ 🎵 Say, Daddy-O, do you know where a cat can have a ball and put on a fine feedbag?
1940		E. O’Neill Long Day’s Journey into Night II i: Come on, Kid. Let’s put on the feed bag.
1950		‘Hal Ellson’ Tomboy (1952) 107: I guess I’ll go up and put the feedbag on.
1956		Sydney Morn. Herald 29 Jan. 1/1: ‘Well, ’ow about puttin’ the feed bag on?’.
1975		T. Berger Sneaky People (1980) 134: What say we put on the feedbag at Wong’s Gardens?
1991		O.D. Brooks Legs 29: Coming back to the yard after putting the feed bag on, we heard a ruckus at the stock pens.
1991		R.G. Barrett Between the Devlin 165: It was the dog’s turn to get on the feedbag, which it did.
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 strap on a feed-bag v 1. to eat a meal; go get something to eat. Origin: the way horses are fed: by strapping a bag full of food to their head.
2005		J. Stahl I, Fatty 60: ‘Strap on your feedbag and come to Kelso’s!’.
2016		N. Cummins Adventures of the Honey Badger [ebook] We pulled up for lunch and strapped the feed bag on.