— pocketless , adj. — pocketlike , adj.
/pok"it/ , n.
1. a shaped piece of fabric attached inside or outside a garment and forming a pouch used esp. for carrying small articles.
2. a bag or pouch.
3. means; financial resources: a selection of gifts to fit every pocket.
4. any pouchlike receptacle, compartment, hollow, or cavity.
5. an envelope, receptacle, etc., usually of heavy paper and open at one end, used for storing or preserving photographs, stamps, phonograph records, etc.: Each album has 12 pockets.
6. a recess, as in a wall, for receiving a sliding door, sash weights, etc.
7. any isolated group, area, element, etc., contrasted, as in status or condition, with a surrounding element or group: pockets of resistance; a pocket of poverty in the central city.
8. Mining.
a. a small orebody or mass of ore, frequently isolated.
b. a bin for ore or rock storage.
c. a raise or small slope fitted with chute gates.
9. Billiards , Pool. any of the pouches or bags at the corners and sides of the table.
10. a position in which a competitor in a race is so hemmed in by others that his or her progress is impeded.
11. 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.
12. Bowling. the space between the headpin and the pin next behind to the left or right, taken as the target for a strike.
13. Baseball. the deepest part of a mitt or glove, roughly in the area around the center of the palm, where most balls are caught.
14. Naut. 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.
15. Anat. any saclike cavity in the body: a pus pocket.
16. See stage pocket .
17. an English unit of weight for hops equivalent to 168 pounds (76.4 kg).
18. in one's pocket , in one's possession; under one's influence: He has the audience in his pocket.
19. line one's pockets , to profit, esp. at the expense of others: While millions were fighting and dying, the profiteers were lining their pockets.
20. out of pocket , having suffered a financial loss; poorer: He had made unwise land purchases, and found himself several thousand dollars out of pocket.
adj.
21. small enough or suitable for carrying in the pocket: a pocket watch.
22. relatively small; smaller than usual: a pocket war; a pocket country.
v.t.
23. to put into one's pocket: to pocket one's keys.
24. to take possession of as one's own, often dishonestly: to pocket public funds.
25. to submit to or endure without protest or open resentment: to pocket an insult.
26. to conceal or suppress: to pocket one's pride.
27. to enclose or confine in or as if in a pocket: The town was pocketed in a small valley.
28. Billiards , Pool. to drive (a ball) into a pocket.
29. pocket-veto.
30. to hem in (a contestant) so as to impede progress, as in racing.
[ 1250-1300; ME poket poquet (OF pochet, pochette ), dim. of poque poke POKE 2 ; see -ET ]
Syn. 24. steal, pilfer, appropriate, filch.