back pocket

American  

[bak pahk-it] / ˈbæk ˈpɑk ɪt /

noun

1. a pocket typically placed on the seat of a pair of trousers, jeans, or shorts.

2. Sports. a defensive position in Australian Rules football.

3. (especially in the phrase in one's back pocket) the state of being in reserve and ready for use when needed.

4. (especially in the phrase in one's back pocket) the state of being under the control of a person or organization.

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Example Sentences

But on the course of my long international, interweb journey, I did end up with a new name in my back pocket: Acme Smoked Fish.

From Salon

One thing I learned as a Wall Street Journal reporter covering Alan Greenspan’s 18-year reign of the Federal Reserve: Don’t ask the man a question when you’re in a buffet line with coffee in one hand, a plate in the other, and a reporter’s notebook in your back pocket.

From Barron's

He reached in his back pocket and got his money poke.

From Literature

“I do often take moments to be like, it’s mental,” Dimoldenberg exclaims via Zoom two months out from the March 15 ceremony, a period she’ll be using to cram the Oscar contenders in order to come up with hundreds of questions to have in the metaphorical back pocket of her designer gown.

From Los Angeles Times

I had written the whole thing out that afternoon and had the document in my back pocket.

From Literature