pocket

[ pok-it ]

noun

1. a shaped piece of fabric attached inside or outside a garment and forming a pouch used especially for carrying small articles.
2. a bag or pouch.
3. means; financial resources:

   The store carried a selection of gifts to fit every pocket.

4. any pouchlike receptacle, compartment, hollow, or cavity.
5. an envelope, receptacle, etc., usually of heavy paper and open at one end, used for storing or preserving photographs, stamps, phonograph records, etc.:

   Each album has 12 pockets.

6. a recess, as in a wall, for receiving a sliding door, sash weights, etc.
7. any isolated group, area, element, etc., contrasted, as in status or condition, with a surrounding element or group:

   pockets of resistance; a pocket of poverty in the central city.

8. Mining.
   1. a small orebody or mass of ore, frequently isolated.
   2. a bin for ore or rock storage.
   3. a raise or small slope fitted with chute gates.
9. Billiards, Pool. any of the pouches or bags at the corners and sides of the table.
10. a position in which a competitor in a race is so hemmed in by others that their progress is impeded.
11. Football. the area from which a quarterback throws a pass, usually a short distance behind the line of scrimmage and protected by a wall of blockers.
12. Bowling. the space between the headpin and the pin next behind to the left or right, taken as the target for a strike.
13. Baseball. the deepest part of a mitt or glove, roughly in the area around the center of the palm, where most balls are caught.
14. Nautical. a holder consisting of a strip of sailcloth sewed to a sail, and containing a thin wooden batten that stiffens the leech of the sail.
15. Anatomy. any saclike cavity in the body:

    a pus pocket.

16. stage pocket.
17. an English unit of weight for hops equivalent to 168 pounds (76.4 kilograms).

adjective

1. small enough or suitable for carrying in the pocket:

   a pocket watch.

2. relatively small; smaller than usual:

   a pocket war; a pocket country.

verb (used with object)

1. to put into one's pocket:

   She pocketed her keys and headed out.

2. to take possession of as one's own, often dishonestly:

   The mayor was found guilty of pocketing public funds.

   Synonyms: filch, appropriate, pilfer, steal

3. to submit to or endure without protest or open resentment:

   She can't be expected to pocket an insult like that.

4. to conceal or suppress:

   If you want to make it in this industry, you'll have to pocket your pride.

5. to enclose or confine in or as if in a pocket:

   The town was pocketed in a small valley.

6. Billiards, Pool. to drive (a ball) into a pocket.
7. pocket-veto.
8. to hem in (a contestant) so as to impede progress, as in racing.

pocket

/ ˈpɒkɪt /

noun

1. a small bag or pouch in a garment for carrying small articles, money, etc
2. any bag or pouch or anything resembling this
3. 1. a cavity or hollow in the earth, etc, such as one containing gold or other ore
   2. the ore in such a place
4. a small enclosed or isolated area

   a pocket of resistance

5. billiards snooker any of the six holes with pouches or nets let into the corners and sides of a billiard table
6. a position in a race in which a competitor is hemmed in
7. Australian rules football a player in one of two side positions at the ends of the ground

   back pocket

   forward pocket

8. a bag or sack of vegetables or fruit
9. in one's pocket
   under one's control
10. in pocket
    having made a profit, as after a transaction
11. in the pocket
    rugby (of a fly half) in an attacking position slightly further back from play than normal, making himself available for a drop goal attempt
12. out of pocket
    having made a loss, as after a transaction
13. line one's pockets
    to make money, esp by dishonesty when in a position of trust
14. modifier suitable for fitting in a pocket; small

    a pocket edition

15. slang.
    modifier poker denoting a pair formed from the two private cards dealt to a player in a game of Texas hold 'em

    pocket queens

verb

1. to put into one's pocket
2. to take surreptitiously or unlawfully; steal
3. usually passive to enclose or confine in or as if in a pocket
4. to receive (an insult, injury, etc) without retaliating
5. to conceal or keep back (feelings)

   he pocketed his pride and accepted help

6. billiards snooker to drive (a ball) into a pocket
7. (esp of the President) to retain (a bill) without acting on it in order to prevent it from becoming law See also pocket veto
8. to hem in (an opponent), as in racing

Derived Forms

• ˈpocketless, adjective
• ˈpocketable, adjective

Other Words From

• pocket·less adjective
• pocket·like adjective
• un·pocket verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of pocket¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English poket, from Old North French ( Picard ) poquet ( Old French pochet, pochette ), diminutive of poque, from Middle Dutch poke “bag, pocket”; poke ², -et

Word History and Origins

Origin of pocket¹

C15: from Anglo-Norman poket a little bag, from poque bag, from Middle Dutch poke poke ², bag; related to French poche pocket

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in one's pocket, in one's possession; under one's influence:

   He has the audience in his pocket.

2. line one's pockets, to profit, especially at the expense of others:

   While millions were fighting and dying, the profiteers were lining their pockets.

3. out of pocket,
   1. having suffered a financial loss; poorer:

      He had made unwise land purchases, and found himself several thousand dollars out of pocket.

   2. lacking money.
   3. Informal. not available; unreachable:

      I'll be out of pocket all afternoon.

More idioms and phrases containing pocket

• deep pockets
• in one's pocket
• in pocket
• line one's pockets
• money burns a hole in one's pocket
• out of pocket

Example Sentences

Place your properly folded mask inside the bag and slip the bag into a pocket while you take a quick mask break.

From Popular-Science

Worn down and chipped from frequent handling, these figurines look like they might have been carried around in pockets or bags.

From Popular-Science

It’s great fuel, and I can cram it in a ski-jacket pocket and eat it on the lift.

From Outside Online

Why can’t this be a superpower that every developer has in their pocket.

From TechCrunch

On every trip that involves wildlife, I have a secret urge to pocket the animals and take them home.

From Washington Post

I was already over forty, had hardly a nickel in my pocket and this was the biggest break in my life.

From The Daily Beast

It had a wide brim and a tall crown, which created an insulated pocket of air and could also be used to carry water.

From The Daily Beast

This leaves thousands of women at companies across the United States left to pay out of pocket for their birth control.

From The Daily Beast

One African American woman brandished a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution while marching.

From The Daily Beast

Being dapper is all about attention to detail, like sporting a perfectly tucked handkerchief in your suit pocket.

From The Daily Beast

The young man smiled at the girl, as he crushed up the notes and stuffed them into his pocket.

From Project Gutenberg

Down in his galleries and chambers where it was dark as a pocket Grandfather Mole enjoyed himself thoroughly.

From Project Gutenberg

Absently his hands wandered through the pockets, and found his purse and the money in an outside pocket.

From Project Gutenberg

“Of course we know it, sir,” rejoined Fogg, slapping his pocket—perhaps by accident.

From Project Gutenberg

Thinking it was a request for employment which he could not offer, Malcolm stuffed it carelessly into a pocket.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• pocket-size
• pocket-sized
• portable
• small