POCKET

pocket

(noun) a small pouch inside a garment for carrying small articles

pocket

(noun) an opening at the corner or on the side of a billiard table into which billiard balls are struck

pouch, pocket

(noun) (anatomy) saclike structure in any of various animals (as a marsupial or gopher or pelican)

pocket

(noun) a small isolated group of people; “they were concentrated in pockets inside the city”; “the battle was won except for cleaning up pockets of resistance”

pocket

(noun) a supply of money; “they dipped into the taxpayers’ pockets”

scoop, pocket

(noun) a hollow concave shape made by removing something

pocket

(noun) (bowling) the space between the headpin and the pins behind it on the right or left; “the ball hit the pocket and gave him a perfect strike”

pouch, sac, sack, pocket

(noun) an enclosed space; “the trapped miners found a pocket of air”

pocket

(verb) put in one’s pocket; “He pocketed the change”

pocket, bag

(verb) take unlawfully

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

pocket (plural pockets)

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

Such a receptacle seen as housing someone's money; hence, financial resources.

(sports, billiards, pool, snooker) 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.

An enclosed volume of one substance surrounded by another.

(Australia) An area of land surrounded by a loop of a river.

(Australian rules football) 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.

(American football) The region directly behind the offensive line in which the quarterback executes plays.

(military) An area where military units are completely surrounded by enemy units.

(rugby) The position held by a second defensive middle, where an advanced middle must retreat after making a touch on the attacking middle.

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.

(architecture) A hole or space covered by a movable piece of board, as in a floor, boxing, partitions, etc.

(mining) A cavity in a rock containing a nugget of gold, or other mineral; a small body of ore contained in such a cavity.

(nautical) A strip of canvas sewn upon a sail so that a batten or a light spar can placed in the interspace.

The pouch of an animal.

(bowling) The ideal point where the pins are hit by the bowling ball.

A socket for receiving the base of a post, stake, etc.

A bight on a lee shore.

(dentistry) A small space between a tooth and the adjoining gum, formed by an abnormal separation of the two.

Verb

pocket (third-person singular simple present pockets, present participle pocketing, simple past and past participle pocketed)

To put (something) into a pocket.

(sports, billiards, snooker, pool) To cause a ball to go into one of the pockets of the table; to complete a shot.

(transitive, slang) To take and keep (something, especially money that is not one's own).

(transitive, slang) To shoplift; to steal.

Synonyms

• (in billiards, etc): pot

• (take and keep, etc): trouser

Adjective

pocket (not comparable)

Of a size suitable for putting into a pocket.

Smaller or more compact than usual.

(Texas hold'em poker) Referring to the two initial hole cards.

Synonyms

• (of a size suitable for a pocket): pocket-size, pocket-sized

Proper noun

Pocket (plural Pockets)

A surname.

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

Source: Wiktionary


Pock"et, n. Etym: [OE. poket, Prov. F. & OF. poquette, F. pochette, dim. fr. poque, pouque, F. poche; probably of Teutonic origin. See Poke a pocket, and cf. Poach to cook eggs, to plunder, and Pouch.]

1. A bag or pouch; especially; a small bag inserted in a garment for carrying small articles, particularly money; hence, figuratively, money; wealth.

2. One of several bags attached to a billiard table, into which the balls are driven.

3. A large bag or sack used in packing various articles, as ginger, hops, cowries, etc.

Note: In the wool or hop trade, the pocket contains half sack, or about 168 Ibs.; but it is a variable quantity, the articles being sold by actual weight.

4. (Arch.)

Definition: A hole or space covered by a movable piece of board, as in a floor, boxing, partitions, or the like.

5. (Mining.) (a) A cavity in a rock containing a nugget of gold, or other mineral; a small body of ore contained in such a cavity. (b) A hole containing water.

6. (Nat.)

Definition: A strip of canvas, sewn upon a sail so that a batten or a light spar can placed in the interspace.

7. (Zoöl.)

Definition: Same as Pouch.

Note: Pocket is often used adjectively, or in the formation of compound words usually of obvious signification; as, pocket comb, pocket compass, pocket edition, pocket handkerchief, pocket money, pocket picking, or pocket-picking, etc. Out of pocket. See under Out, prep.

– Pocket borough, a borough "owned" by some person. See under Borough. [Eng.] -- Pocket gopher (Zoöl.), any one of several species of American rodents of the genera Geomys, and Thomomys, family Geomydæ. They have large external cheek pouches, and are fossorial in their habits. they inhabit North America, from the Mississippi Valley west to the Pacific. Called also pouched gopher.

– Pocket mouse (Zoöl.), any species of American mice of the family Saccomyidæ. They have external cheek pouches. Some of them are adapted for leaping (genus Dipadomys), and are called kangaroo mice. They are native of the Southwestern United States, Mexico, etc.

– Pocket piece, a piece of money kept in the pocket and not spent.

– Pocket pistol, a pistol to be carried in the pocket.

– Pocket sheriff (Eng. Law), a sheriff appointed by the sole authority of the crown, without a nomination by the judges in the exchequer. Burrill. deep pocket, or deep pockets, wealth or substantial financial assets.

Note: Used esp. in legal actions, where plaintiffs desire to find a defendant with "deep pockets", so as to be able to actually obtain the sum of damages which may be judged due to him. This contrasts with a "judgment-proof" defendant, one who has neither assets nor insurance, and against whom a judgment for monetary damages would be worthless.

Pock"et, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pocketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Pocketing.]

1. To put, or conceal, in the pocket; as, to pocket the change. He would pocket the expense of the license. Sterne.

2. To take clandestinely or fraudulently. He pocketed pay in the names of men who had long been dead. Macaulay. To pocket a ball (Billiards), to drive a ball into a pocket of the table.

– To pocket an insult, affront, etc., to receive an affront without open resentment, or without seeking redress. "I must pocket up these wrongs." Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


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