up for grabs

都バスの車体に大きな広告が描かれているのを最近見かけますが、英国ではパトロールカーにも広告が載ることもあるようです。
In Britain, commercially sponsored police cars began to appear in the 1990s, after the Home Office issued new regulations allowing police departments to raise up to 1 percent of their annual budgets from sponsorships. "It's been forbidden territory until recently," a police official said. "Now everything is up for grabs."
今日はこの "up for grabs" を覚えたいと思います。辞書で意味を調べます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: informal Available; obtainable: great prizes up for grabs: There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs so get dressed up and come along.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:
1. Fig. available for anyone; not yet claimed. The election is up for grabs. Everything is still very chancy. I don't know who will get the promotion. It's up for grabs.
2. Fig. in total chaos. This is a madhouse. The whole place is up for grabs. When the market crashed, the whole office was up for grabs.
・The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms: Available to anyone, as in Now that he's resigned, his job is up for grabs. This term alludes to something being thrown in the air for anyone to grasp or catch.
ニュースで時々見かけますが、有名な神社などで有名人がお菓子などをばら撒き、それを皆で取り合う姿、それを連想すれば良いのですね。