back pocket

verb, noun — 3 senses

back-pocket

verbalso spelled back-pocket

Etymology From back pocket.

1

To put (something) into a back pocket.

  • “Right.” He back-pocketed the notebook and lifted the Nikon from my bag. “Take a few steps down the hill and point toward the ruins so I can get both in one shot.”2003, Robert Eversz, Burning Garbo: A Nina Zero Novel, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, published 2005, →ISBN, page 23:
2

Idiomatic To put (something) aside for future use; to keep in reserve.

  • “All the lyrics talk about is humility and heartbreak, and then at the end it’s exuberance and joy,” Hines said. “The only way that fits is if the Caps win the Stanley Cup, so I sort of back-pocketed the idea for years. I put together multiple iterations of it in my head, and it just never panned out, because they never ended up finishing the deal.”2019 June 7, Scott Allen, “How Mumford and Sons became the soundtrack for Capitals’ Stanley Cup triumph”, in The Washington Post:
Related terms
in one's back pocket

back pocket

noun

Etymology From back + pocket.

1

A pocket found on the back of a pair of trousers.

  • To appear in the know, regale your new Italian chums with tales of how he covered the Italy squad in his Panini stickers album with nothing but his own face, or the classic story of the time he was stopped by police with £5,000 in cash in his backpocket and explained it with the line "Because I am rich".2014 June 20, Pete Cashmore, “How to become an instant Italy fan”, in The Guardian:
Derived terms
back-pocket, in one's back pocket
Related terms
hip pocket

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for back-pocket and back pocket.