subs. phr. (common).—1. Usually THE WHOLE BAG-OF-TRICKS = every shift or expedient. [See fable of ‘The Fox and the Cat.’] Hence THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG OF TRICKS (or THE BAG) = a last resource; ‘a card up one’s sleeve.’
1659. REYNOLDS [BURTON, Diary (1828), iv. 447]. If this be done which is IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG, and must be done, we shall … be able to buoy up our reputation.
2. (venery).—The penis and testes.
