See Also: air pocket(dictionary)
hip pocket(dictionary)
pocket(2)(dictionary)
pocket(1)(dictionary)
Pocket(money)
Pocket(medicine)
pocket 3, adjective(dictionary)
pocket 2, verb(dictionary)
pocket 1, noun(dictionary)
out-of-pocket expenses(dictionary)

pocket(1) (iou)



pocket noun & adjective. ME.
[Anglo-Norman poket(e dim. of Old Northern French POKE noun1, corresp. to Old French pochet, (also mod.) POCHETTE dim. of Old & mod. French poche POUCH noun: see -ET1. Cf. PUCKER verb.]
A. noun.
A bag or sack, now esp. for hops or wool and of a particular size according to the commodity. ME.
A small bag or pouch worn on the person; spec. one sewn into or on clothing, or one formed by sewing three sides of a piece of material on to clothing, for carrying a purse or other small articles. LME.
breast-pocket, hip-pocket, etc. bellows pocket, patch pocket, etc.
R. Frame From the pocket of her coat she took out a notepad. M. M. R. Khan Not allowed to keep their hands in the pockets of their shorts. Nursery rhyme: Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; Not a penny was there in it, Only ribbon round it.
[From the use of a pocket to carry money.] One's stock of cash; one's financial resources, one's private means. E18.
N. Mandela The cost of milk, meat and vegetables is beyond the pockets of the average family.
Each of the open-mouthed bags or pouches placed at the corners and on each side of a billiard- or snooker-table, into which the balls are driven. M18.
a. Zoology & Anatomy. A sac or pouchlike cavity in the body of an animal. L18.
b. A pouchlike compartment in the cover of a book, in a suitcase, in a car door, etc. E19.
Mining & Geology. A cavity in a rock or stratum, freq. one filled with foreign material, esp. gold or other ore, or water; an abruptly dilated part of a vein or lode; an isolated accumulation of alluvial gold, opal, etc. M19.
A wide or deep hollow among hills or mountains; an open area surrounded by higher ground. M19.
a. A position in which a competitor in a race is hemmed in by others and so has no chance of winning. L19.
b. Amer. Football. A shielded area formed by blockers from which a player attempts to pass; the group of blockers forming such a shield. M20.
A local atmospheric condition; spec. = air-pocket s.v. AIR noun1. E20.
An isolated area or group, orig. spec. one held by or consisting of troops surrounded by opposing forces; a small area contrasted with or differing from its surroundings; an isolated or local concentration of. E20.
frost pocket etc.
Daily Express Aid..must wait not only until the..army is beaten, but until pockets of resistance have been wiped out. T. Pynchon A..battle of attrition in a minor pocket developed during the advance on Rome. L. Deighton Pockets of gas in the broken pipes were still blazing fiercely.
Phrases etc.: burn a hole in one's pocket: see BURN verb 9b. in a person's pocket close to or intimate with a person; under the personal control or direction of a person; live in each other's pockets, live in excessively close proximity, live in mutual dependence. in pocket (a) having money available; in possession of funds; (b) (following specifications of an amount of money) having that amount of money left over or as profit. line one's pocket: see LINE verb1 2. out of pocket (a) having no money available; out of funds; (b) having lost money by a transaction. out-of-pocket adjective designating expenses incurred in cash. piss in a person's pocket: see PISS verb 1. put in one's pocket pocket, take or keep to oneself, conceal, suppress. put one's hand in one's pocket spend or provide money from one's own resources. save one's pocket: see SAVE verb.
b. attrib. or as adjective. Adapted or intended for carrying in a pocket; small enough to be carried in a pocket; tiny, diminutive. L16.
Comb. & special collocations: pocket battleship Hist. a warship armoured and equipped like, but smaller than, a battleship; pocket beach Physical Geography a small, narrow, sheltered beach; pocket billiards (a) a N. American type of the game pool; (b) colloq. (orig. Schoolboys' slang) manipulation of the male genitals by the hand through a trouser pocket; pocket borough: see BOROUGH 3; pocket calculator: see CALCULATOR 2b; pocket expenses small personal outlays of money; pocket gopher: see GOPHER noun2 2; pocket handkerchief (a) a handkerchief for carrying in a pocket; (b) a very small area (of land etc.); (c) a light sail; pocket-hole an opening in a garment through which the hand is put into a pocket; pocket knife a knife with one or more blades which fold into the handle, for carrying in a pocket; pocket money (a) money carried in the pocket for occasional expenses; (b) money given as an allowance to a person, esp. a child, who has no other significant income; pocket-mouse a small N. American rodent of the family Heteromyidae, with large cheek pouches, esp. one of the genus Perognathus (SPINY pocket-mouse); pocket passer Amer. Football a player who passes the ball from a pocket; pocket-picker arch. a pickpocket; pocket-picking arch. pickpocketing; pocket-piece arch. a piece of money carried in the pocket as a lucky charm (freq. an obsolete, damaged, or spurious coin); pocket-plum(s) = plum-pockets s.v. PLUM noun; pocket rot a fungus infection causing localized decay in the trunks or roots of trees (freq. with specifying word); pocket-size, pocket-sized adjectives of a size suitable for carrying in the pocket; petty, small-scale; pocket valley Physical Geography a steep-sided usu. flat-floored valley formed by a stream which emerges at the foot of a steep slope; pocket Venus a small and beautiful woman; pocket veto US an indirect veto of a legislative bill by the President, a State governor, etc., by retaining the bill unsigned until it is too late for it to be dealt with during the legislative session; pocket-watch a watch intended to be carried in the pocket of a waistcoat, jacket, etc.
pocketful noun as much or as many as a pocket will hold E17.
pocketless adjective L19.
pocket-like adjective resembling (that of) a pocket L19.