From Middle English pocket (“bag, sack”), from Anglo-Norman poket, Old Northern French poquet, poquete, diminutive of poque, poke (“bag, sack”) (compare modern Norman pouquette and modern French pochette from Old French pochete, from puche), from Frankish *pokō (“pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *puhô (“bag; pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Equivalent to poke + -et. Doublet of pochette. Cognate with Middle Dutch poke, Alemannic German Pfoch (“purse, bag”), Old English pocca, pohha (“poke, pouch, pocket, bag”), Old Norse poki (“bag, pocket”). Compare the related poke (“sack or bag”). See also Modern French pochette and Latin bucca.
“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:
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Broadly A person's financial resources.
I paid for it out of my own pocket.
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 23, H. C. P. Smail, “New portrait of George Stephenson”, in Railway Magazine, page 93:
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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:
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Ball games, Billiards, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Pool, Snooker, Sports An 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.
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An enclosed volume of one substance surrounded by another.
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:
The drilling expedition discovered a pocket of natural gas.
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Australia An area of land surrounded by a loop of a river.
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The 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.
Australian rules football
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American football, Ball games, Football, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The 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.
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
With some notable exceptions, NFL teams that are successful on dropbacks outside the pocket have tended to win more games2019 Dec. 6, Josh Hermsmeyer, "Teams Are Excelling when Their QBs Leave the Pocket. Can that Continue?", FiveThirtyEight
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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
Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Rugby, Sports The 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:
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Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports, Surfing The unbroken part of a wave that offers the surfer the most power.
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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.
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Architecture A hole or space covered by a movable piece of board, as in a floor, boxing, partitions, etc.
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Business, Mining A cavity in a rock containing a nugget of gold, or other mineral; a small body of ore contained in such a cavity.
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Nautical, Transport A strip of canvas sewn upon a sail so that a batten or a light spar can placed in the interspace.
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The pouch of an animal.
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Bowling, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The ideal point where the pins are hit by the bowling ball.
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A socket for receiving the base of a post, stake, etc.
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A bight on a lee shore.
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Dentistry, Medicine, Sciences A small space between a tooth and the adjoining gum, formed by an abnormal separation of the two.
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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:
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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A state achieved with steady, enjoyable drumming.
From Middle English pocket (“bag, sack”), from Anglo-Norman poket, Old Northern French poquet, poquete, diminutive of poque, poke (“bag, sack”) (compare modern Norman pouquette and modern French pochette from Old French pochete, from puche), from Frankish *pokō (“pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *puhô (“bag; pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Equivalent to poke + -et. Doublet of pochette. Cognate with Middle Dutch poke, Alemannic German Pfoch (“purse, bag”), Old English pocca, pohha (“poke, pouch, pocket, bag”), Old Norse poki (“bag, pocket”). Compare the related poke (“sack or bag”). See also Modern French pochette and Latin bucca.
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To 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:
[…] 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:
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[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:
Informal To take and keep (something, especially money, that is not one's own).
Record executives pocketed most of the young singer's earnings.
The thief was caught on camera pocketing the diamond.
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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:
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Dated, Informal To 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:
From Middle English pocket (“bag, sack”), from Anglo-Norman poket, Old Northern French poquet, poquete, diminutive of poque, poke (“bag, sack”) (compare modern Norman pouquette and modern French pochette from Old French pochete, from puche), from Frankish *pokō (“pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *puhô (“bag; pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Equivalent to poke + -et. Doublet of pochette. Cognate with Middle Dutch poke, Alemannic German Pfoch (“purse, bag”), Old English pocca, pohha (“poke, pouch, pocket, bag”), Old Norse poki (“bag, pocket”). Compare the related poke (“sack or bag”). See also Modern French pochette and Latin bucca.
1
Of a size suitable for putting into a pocket.
a pocket dictionary
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Smaller or more compact than usual.
pocket battleship
pocket beach
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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: