Definition of "potluck" [pot•luck]

• Whatever food happens to be available for a meal, especially when offered to a guest: Having arrived unannounced for supper, we had to take potluck. (noun)
• A meal at which each guest brings food that is then shared by all. Also called potluck supper. (noun)
• Whatever is available at a particular time: The scheduled flight was canceled and passengers had to take potluck on the other airlines. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Later on inauguration day, Nixon was hosting what he described as a potluck dinner for the public."
• "And then there were the endless church suppers where you could always find a big bowl of it in potluck purgatory alongside the green jiggling Jell-O and fruit salad made with tiny marshmallows."
• "When I moved to Rhode Island, I landed smack dab in potluck country, where the pressure to come up with new things to bring to dinner can be intense."