noun
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pockets
plural
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a shaped piece of fabric attached inside or outside a garment and forming a pouch used especially for carrying small articles.
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a bag or pouch.
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any pouchlike receptacle, compartment, hollow, or cavity.
Steam creates little pockets in the dough as it bakes.
He put the water bottle back in its pocket on his backpack.
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an envelope, flat receptacle, etc., open at one end, used for storing something thin.
Each mini photo album has 12 pockets.
There are pockets in the front and back of the binder for loose notes.
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a recess, as in a wall, for receiving a sliding door, sash weights, etc.
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any isolated group, area, element, etc., that contrasts with a surrounding element or group.
After the rebellion was put down, there were still pockets of resistance in some parts of the country.
We biked through a pocket of cooler air sheltered by trees.
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level of financial resources.
The store carried a selection of gifts to fit every pocket.
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Mining.
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a small mass of ore, frequently isolated.
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a bin for ore or rock storage.
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a raise or small slope fitted with chute gates.
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Billiards, Pool. any of the pouches or bags at the corners and sides of the table.
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a position in which a competitor in a race is so hemmed in by others that their progress is impeded.
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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.
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Bowling. the space between the headpin and the pin next behind to the left or right, taken as the target for a strike.
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Baseball. the deepest part of a mitt or glove, roughly in the area around the center of the palm, where most balls are caught.
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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.
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Anatomy. any saclike cavity in the body.
a pus pocket.
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an English unit of weight for hops equivalent to 168 pounds (76.4 kilograms).
adjective
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small enough or suitable for carrying in the pocket.
a pocket watch.
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relatively small; smaller than usual.
a pocket war;
a pocket country.
verb (used with object)
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pockets,
present (3rd person singular)
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pocketed,
past participle, past
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pocketing
present participle
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to put into one's pocket.
She pocketed her keys and headed out.
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to take possession of as one's own, often dishonestly.
The mayor was found guilty of pocketing public funds.
- Synonyms:
- filch, appropriate, pilfer, steal
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to submit to or endure without protest or open resentment.
She can't be expected to pocket an insult like that.
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to conceal or suppress.
If you want to make it in this industry, you'll have to pocket your pride.
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to enclose or confine in or as if in a pocket.
The town was pocketed in a small valley.
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Billiards, Pool. to drive (a ball) into a pocket.
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to hem in (a contestant) so as to impede progress, as in racing.
idioms
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in someone's pocket, in someone's possession; under someone's influence.
He has the audience in his pocket.
Some worry that the research agency is in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry.
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out of pocket,
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having suffered a financial loss; poorer.
He had made unwise land purchases, and found himself several hundred thousand dollars out of pocket.
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lacking money.
I’m out of pocket right now but can pay you next month.
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with one’s own money.
She had to pay for the procedure out of pocket, as it wasn’t covered by insurance.
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Informal. not available; unreachable.
I'll be out of pocket all afternoon.
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Informal. showing lack of restraint; being or going outside the bounds of acceptable behavior.
Getting so rowdy at your friend’s wedding was way out of pocket.
I know I was out of pocket, pressing him on such a sensitive issue.
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line one's pockets, to profit, especially at the expense of others.
While millions were fighting and dying, the profiteers were lining their pockets.
noun
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a small bag or pouch in a garment for carrying small articles, money, etc
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any bag or pouch or anything resembling this
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a cavity or hollow in the earth, etc, such as one containing gold or other ore
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the ore in such a place
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a small enclosed or isolated area
a pocket of resistance
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billiards snooker any of the six holes with pouches or nets let into the corners and sides of a billiard table
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a position in a race in which a competitor is hemmed in
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Australian rules football a player in one of two side positions at the ends of the ground
back pocket
forward pocket
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a bag or sack of vegetables or fruit
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under one's control
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having made a profit, as after a transaction
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rugby (of a fly half) in an attacking position slightly further back from play than normal, making himself available for a drop goal attempt
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having made a loss, as after a transaction
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to make money, esp by dishonesty when in a position of trust
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(modifier) suitable for fitting in a pocket; small
a pocket edition
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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
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to put into one's pocket
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to take surreptitiously or unlawfully; steal
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(usually passive) to enclose or confine in or as if in a pocket
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to receive (an insult, injury, etc) without retaliating
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to conceal or keep back (feelings)
he pocketed his pride and accepted help
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billiards snooker to drive (a ball) into a pocket
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(esp of the President) to retain (a bill) without acting on it in order to prevent it from becoming law See also pocket veto
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to hem in (an opponent), as in racing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pocketsimple
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pocketssimple
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have pocketedperfect
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has pocketedperfect
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am pocketingprogressive
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are pocketingprogressive
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is pocketingprogressive
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have been pocketingperfect progressive
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has been pocketingperfect progressive
Past
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pocketedsimple
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had pocketedperfect
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was pocketingprogressive
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were pocketingprogressive
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had been pocketingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pocket
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”; see poke 2, -et
Explanation
A pocket is a kind of pouch that's sewn into your clothes. If you are worried about your ink pen leaking in your shirt pocket, then you might spring for a pocket protector. Nice look! You can keep things like your keys in a pocket, or you can use your pockets to keep your hands warm. Jackets and jeans have pockets, and so do kangaroos and pool tables. In the case of kangaroos, it's a handy pouch in a mother's belly where she can keep a baby kangaroo warm and comfortable. And when you shoot pool, you aim for the pockets. As a verb, pocket can literally mean "put into your pocket," or more figuratively, "steal money." To be "in someone's pocket" is to be under their control or influence.
Vocabulary lists containing pocket
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She usually finds nothing in her seat pocket beyond the safety card, and doesn’t understand why airlines aren’t paying closer attention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
“It’s the deepest pocket of all, and there’s nothing new about that,” Michelle added.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Which is why it resonates with our confusing times; it’s a pocket symphony in the key of now.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
After an eventful summer, U.S. stocks appear to have hit a pocket of calm.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
At last, at the end of the long echoing corridors, I reached my cell and drew the package from my pocket.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Why distribute and disinfect pagers when customers already had phones in their pockets?
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
“There are big companies that have a lot of money, deep pockets — they could suffocate you, they can bog you down in litigation to the point where you can’t financially match them,” Colter said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Last year, immigration arrests had only limited impact on the home-building industry, other than in select pockets of the country, such as South Texas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
With much of the country also under the control of Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab, little progress has been made on organising elections beyond a few localised pockets.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
He shoved his hands in his pockets and kept his eyes on the traffic light up ahead.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
His team also pocketed a hefty sum -- several million dollars -- for travelling to Luanda in November 2025 for a friendly marking Angola's 50th Independence Day celebrations.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Phra Wachirayan Wi, a former abbot at the prominent 14th-Century Wat Phutthaisawan in the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, allegedly pocketed donations meant for the temple on more than 20 occasions over two years.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
According to forms filed with the IRS, in 2023 she pocketed $907,923, a payout that included a $495,000 bonus, a number that exceeded her base pay at the time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
In the 1990s, Murrin and her husband used an accountant who cooked up bogus deductions and pocketed a share of the wrongly-inflated tax refunds.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
He spun round just in time to see Mrs. Parsons dragging her son back into the doorway while the boy pocketed a catapult.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Japanese banks borrowed cheaply at home to lend overseas, pocketing the difference in yield.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Surveillance footage from that day shows Paxton spotting the pen and pocketing it swiftly.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
But with rebates flowing, counterparties are now suing some of these companies for pocketing those higher costs.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
The company argued attorneys were swindling their own clients, inflating medical bills of car crash victims to increase the value of the settlement and then pocketing a hefty chunk of the payouts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
He imagined himself as a dentist, removing that gold tooth, pocketing it, and refitting Mr. Trepid with something else, maybe something red, maybe plastic, shaped like a fang.
From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech
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