n. & v.
--n.
1. a small bag sewn into or on clothing, for carrying small articles.
2 a pouchlike compartment in a suitcase, car door, etc.
3 one's financial resources (it is beyond my pocket).
4 an isolated group or area (a few pockets of resistance remain).
5 a a cavity in the earth containing ore, esp. gold. b a cavity in rock, esp. filled with foreign matter.
6 a pouch at the corner or on the side of a billiard- or snooker-table into which balls are driven.
7 air pocket.
8 (attrib.) a of a suitable size and shape for carrying in a pocket. b smaller than the usual size.
--v.tr. (pocketed, pocketing)
1. put into one's pocket.
2 appropriate, esp. dishonestly.
3 confine as in a pocket.
4 submit to (an injury or affront).
5 conceal or suppress (one's feelings).
6 Billiards etc. drive (a ball) into a pocket.
Phrases and idioms:
in pocket 1 having gained in a transaction.
2 (of money) available.
in a person's pocket
1. under a person's control.
2 close to or intimate with a person. out of pocket having lost in a transaction. out-of-pocket expenses the actual outlay of cash incurred. pocket battleship hist. a warship armoured and equipped like, but smaller than, a battleship. pocket borough Brit. hist. a borough in which the election of political representatives was controlled by one person or family. pocket gopher GOPHER(1) 1. pocket knife a knife with a folding blade or blades, for carrying in the pocket.
pocket money
1. money for minor expenses.
2 Brit. an allowance of money made to a child. put one's hand in one's pocket spend or provide money.
Derivatives:
pocketable adj. pocketless adj. pockety adj. (in sense 5 of n.).
Etymology: ME f. AF poket(e) dimin. of poke POKE(2)