What does "pocket" mean?
A bag stitched to an item of clothing, used for carrying small items.
/ˈpɒk.ɪt/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A bag stitched to an item of clothing, used for carrying small items.
- Grammar: pocket is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: pouch, abstract, accept, acquire.
- Useful contrasts: bulky, debt, donate.
- Usage evidence: Money burns a hole in Linda's pocket.
How to use "pocket"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "pocket" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "pocket" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "pocket" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "pocket" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "pocket" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "pouch" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "pocket", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A bag stitched to an item of clothing, used for carrying small items.
"“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."
- 2 a small pouch inside a garment for carrying small articles wordnet
- 3 A person's financial resources. broadly
"I paid for it out of my own pocket."
- 4 an opening at the corner or on the side of a billiard table into which billiard balls are struck wordnet
- 5 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.
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 (anatomy) saclike structure in any of various animals (as a marsupial or gopher or pelican) wordnet
- 7 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."
- 8 a small isolated group of people wordnet
- 9 An area of land surrounded by a loop of a river. Australia
- 10 a local region of low pressure or descending air that causes a plane to lose height suddenly wordnet
- 11 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.
- 12 a supply of money wordnet
- 13 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."
- 14 a hollow concave shape made by removing something wordnet
- 15 An area where military units are completely surrounded by enemy units.
- 16 (bowling) the space between the headpin and the pins behind it on the right or left wordnet
- 17 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."
- 18 an enclosed space wordnet
- 19 The unbroken part of a wave that offers the surfer the most power.
- 20 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.
- 21 A hole or space covered by a movable piece of board, as in a floor, boxing, partitions, etc.
- 22 A cavity in a rock containing a nugget of gold, or other mineral; a small body of ore contained in such a cavity.
- 23 A strip of canvas sewn upon a sail so that a batten or a light spar can placed in the interspace.
- 24 The pouch of an animal.
- 25 The ideal point where the pins are hit by the bowling ball.
- 26 A socket for receiving the base of a post, stake, etc.
- 27 A bight on a lee shore.
- 28 A small space between a tooth and the adjoining gum, formed by an abnormal separation of the two.
- 29 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 - [...]."
- 30 A state achieved with steady, enjoyable drumming.
"in the pocket"
Verb
- 1 To put (something) into a pocket. transitive
"[Y]ou / Did pocket vp my Letters: and with taunts / Did gibe my Miſive out of audience."
- 2 put in one's pocket wordnet
- 3 To cause a ball to go into one of the pockets of the table; to complete a shot.
- 4 take unlawfully wordnet
- 5 To take and keep (something, especially money, that is not one's own). informal, transitive
"Record executives pocketed most of the young singer's earnings."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To put up with; to bear without complaint. dated, informal, transitive
"As long as the house suffered the practice to prevail, they must submit to pocket the insult of being told that it existed."
Adjective
- 1 Of a size suitable for putting into a pocket. not-comparable
"a pocket dictionary"
- 2 Smaller or more compact than usual. not-comparable
"pocket battleship"
- 3 Belonging to the two initial hole cards. not-comparable
"a pocket pair of kings"
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
"I derived from this speech that Mr. Herbert Pocket (for Herbert was the pale young gentleman's name) still rather confounded his intention with his execution."
Example
"Money burns a hole in Linda's pocket."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "pocket"?
Common synonyms include: pouch, abstract, accept, acquire, aerospace, aerosphere.
How do you use "pocket" in a sentence?
Money burns a hole in Linda's pocket.
How do you pronounce "pocket"?
Pronounced /ˈpɒk.ɪt/.
Etymology
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 *pukkô, *pukô (“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.