pocket

plural pockets

1. businessA bag stitched to an item of clothing, used for carrying small items.

   “Do I fidget you ?” he asked apologetically, whilst his long bony fingers buried themselves, string, knots, and all, into the capacious pockets of his magnificent tweed ulster.

   1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], chapter 1, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020

2. broadlyA person's financial resources.

   I paid for it out of my own pocket.

   3 more examples

   It should be remembered, however, that [Sir Thomas] Lawrence, who was now in demand, was charging from eighty to a hundred guineas for even his smallest portraits, a sum which would have been far beyond the pocket or inclination of the canny North countryman [George Stephenson], who had little use for empty honours.

   1960 February 28, H. C. P. Smail, “New portrait of George Stephenson”, in Railway Magazine, page 93

   There was, for much of the period, no cheap public transport; and even the Underground, or one of Shillibeer's horse-drawn omnibuses, was beyond the pocket of many of the poor.

   2012, Simon Heffer, “In Fagin's Footsteps”, in Literary Review, section 403

   "The financial impact of the fuel duty cut on people's pockets will in fact be minimal, […]"

   2022 April 6, “Network News: Spring Statement: Sunak accused of making rail less competitive”, in RAIL, number 954, page 8

   Synonyms: pocketbook

3. ball gamesAn indention and cavity with a net sack or similar structure (into which the balls are to be struck) at each corner and one centered on each side of a pool or snooker table.
4. An enclosed volume of one substance surrounded by another.

   The drilling expedition discovered a pocket of natural gas.

   1 more example

   She knew from avalanche safety courses that outstretched hands might puncture the ice surface and alert rescuers. She knew that if victims ended up buried under the snow, cupped hands in front of the face could provide a small pocket of air for the mouth and nose. Without it, the first breaths could create a suffocating ice mask.

   2012 December 26, John Branch, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2013

5. AustraliaAn area of land surrounded by a loop of a river.
6. Australian rules footballThe area of the field to the side of the goal posts (four pockets in total on the field, one to each side of the goals at each end of the ground). The pocket is only a roughly defined area, extending from the behind post, at an angle, to perhaps about 30 meters out.
7. American footballThe area behind the line of scrimmage subject to certain rules regarding intentional grounding, illegal contact, etc., formally extending to the end zone but more usually understood as the central area around the quarterback directly protected by the offensive line.

   With some notable exceptions, NFL teams that are successful on dropbacks outside the pocket have tended to win more games

   2019 Dec. 6, Josh Hermsmeyer, "Teams Are Excelling when Their QBs Leave the Pocket. Can that Continue?", FiveThirtyEight

   2 more examples

   For many years, the popular belief among NFL analysts was that the success of an NFL team comes with a quarterback who can stand tall in the pocket and deliver the ball downfield. Members of the elite group of active quarterbacks, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees, for instance, also earned their reputation by making plays almost exclusively from the pocket.

   2014 June 20, Gregor Bozic, "Ramblings: Classic Pocket Passers versus Mobile Quarterbacks", Football Outsiders

   The Pocket Area is the area between the outside edges of the normal tackle positions on each side of the center extending backward to the offensive team's end line. After the ball leaves the pocket area, this area no longer exists.

   2021, Official Playing Rules of the National Football League, §26: Pocket Area

8. governmentAn area where military units are completely surrounded by enemy units.
9. ball gamesThe position held by a second defensive middle, where an advanced middle must retreat after making a touch on the attacking middle.

   Matt Stevens was crumpled by Euan Murray in another scrum, allowing Parks to kick for the corner, and when Richie Gray's clean take from the subsequent line-out set up a series of drives under the posts, Parks was back in the pocket to belt over a drop-goal to make it 9-3 at the interval.

   2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport

10. hobbiesThe unbroken part of a wave that offers the surfer the most power.
11. A large bag or sack formerly used for packing various articles, such as ginger, hops, or cowries; the pocket of wool held about 168 pounds.
12. architectureA hole or space covered by a movable piece of board, as in a floor, boxing, partitions, etc.
13. businessA cavity in a rock containing a nugget of gold, or other mineral; a small body of ore contained in such a cavity.
14. nauticalA strip of canvas sewn upon a sail so that a batten or a light spar can placed in the interspace.
15. The pouch of an animal.
16. bowlingThe ideal point where the pins are hit by the bowling ball.
17. A socket for receiving the base of a post, stake, etc.
18. A bight on a lee shore.
19. dentistryA small space between a tooth and the adjoining gum, formed by an abnormal separation of the two.
20. A small, isolated group or area.

    They are comfortable trains with decent windows, ideal for observing a line which is one of the last pockets of manually operated crossing gates and semaphore signalling - [...].

    2020 November 4, Paul Bigland, “At no point have I felt unsafe...”, in Rail, page 47

21. entertainmentA state achieved with steady, enjoyable drumming.

    in the pocket

present singular third person pockets · participle present pocketing · participle present rare pocketting · participle past pocketed · past pocketed · participle past rare pocketted · past rare pocketted

1. transitiveTo put (something) into a pocket.

   [Y]ou / Did pocket vp my Letters: and with taunts / Did gibe my Miſive out of audience.

   c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 346, column 1

   3 more examples

   […] I ſtopt ſhort, and, pocketting my ducats in a great hurry, took out ſome rials, approached the hat, that was expoſed for the reception of charity extorted from chriſtians by fear, and dropt them into it, one after another, that the beggar might ſee how nobly I uſed him.

   1749, [Alain-René Lesage], “Of His Being Grievously Alarmed in His Way to Pennaflor: […]”, in [Tobias George Smollett], transl., The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, volume I, London: […] J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, book I, page 5

   [M]y lord said that she did not flatter at any rate; and pocketted his snuff-box, not desirous that Madame Brack’s dubious fingers should plunge too frequently into his Mackabaw.

   1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Carries the Reader Both to Richmond and Greenwich”, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 14

   She produced a Gillette blade from her coat pocket. / “Where did you get that?” / “Stole it from Mr Taylor!” she said proudly. / “That’s dangerous! You could cut yourself.” / Jemima looked unmoved and pocketted the blade.

   2014, David Shepherd, “The Unexpected Guest (Mary’s Story: September - November 1939)”, in Jemima Against the World: A Romance in a Time of War, Dundee: Meadowside Publications, →ISBN, section 4, page 21

2. ball gamesTo cause a ball to go into one of the pockets of the table; to complete a shot.

   Synonyms: pot

3. informaltransitiveTo take and keep (something, especially money, that is not one's own).

   The thief was caught on camera pocketing the diamond.

   4 more examples

   Record executives pocketed most of the young singer's earnings.

   But, Tom, thy ſelfe art paſt grace; for ſome of thyne owne faction, envying thy proficiencie and honour to which thou aſpireſt, hath pocketted thy grace.

   1597, Don Richardo de Medico Campo [pseudonym; Richard Lichfield], The Trimming of Thomas Nashe Gentleman, London: […] [Edward Allde] for Philip Scarlet, →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, The Trimming of Thomas Nashe Gentleman (Miscellaneous Tracts, Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I), [London: s.n.], 1870, →OCLC, page 51

   The store manager, a woman in her 50s, saw Sasaki pocket the condoms and detained him at the entrance to the store, while another employee called police.

   2023, 85-year-old man arrested for stealing condoms from convenience store

   Under the Shadow GBR, it will be interesting to see how the government resolves the current mismatch whereby the DfT is responsible for spending money, but HM Treasury pockets the cash from train operators.

   2024 October 16, Howard Johnston, “GBR is now in motion... but change will be a slow process”, in RAIL, number 1020, page 27

   Synonyms: trouser

4. datedinformaltransitiveTo put up with; to bear without complaint.

   As long as the house suffered the practice to prevail, they must submit to pocket the insult of being told that it existed.

   1810, Great Britain. Parliament, The Parliamentary Register, page 557

1. not comparableOf a size suitable for putting into a pocket.

   a pocket dictionary

   Synonyms: pocket-size, pocket-sized

2. not comparableSmaller or more compact than usual.

   pocket beach

   3 more examples

   pocket battleship

   She ate, drank, worked, danced, and made love in exactly the same way: con brio. She came into the apartment like a pocket hurricane.

   1990, Stephen King, The Moving Finger

   “There is never a shortage of pocket [Neville]^([sic]) Chamberlains willing to sacrifice other people’s land for their own peace of mind,” Sikorski said.

   2024 January 19, Larry Elliott, John Collingridge, quoting Radosław Sikorski, “Casting their shadow: how Trump, Putin and AI dominated talk at Davos”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

3. not comparableTexas hold'em pokerBelonging to the two initial hole cards.

   a pocket pair of kings

plural Pockets

1. A surname.

   I derived from this speech that Mr. Herbert Pocket (for Herbert was the pale young gentleman's name) still rather confounded his intention with his execution.

   1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter III, in Great Expectations […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 29

   1 more example

   Pollyanna Pocket was small, with long floppy ears and a tail that coiled upwards in a little ringlet. She was a bouncy, happy young dog, who frolicked all day

   2014, Dot and the Waves, page 10