Pocketbook
/ˈpɒ.kɪt.bʊk/ noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A purse or handbag. US
- 2 a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women) wordnet
- 3 A wallet for paper money. dated
- 4 pocket-sized paperback book wordnet
- 5 One's personal budget or financial capacity; the amount one can afford. figuratively
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 a pocket-size case for holding papers and paper money wordnet
- 7 A small book, particularly (US) a paperback or (UK) notebook able to fit into a pocket (of any genre, from reference work to fine art).
"The publishers brought out small format pocketbooks of the whole of their nature series."
- 8 your personal financial means wordnet
- 9 A small book, particularly (US) a paperback or (UK) notebook able to fit into a pocket (of any genre, from reference work to fine art).; A romance novel published as a small paperback. Philippines, broadly
Example
More examples"I get caught in the rain, I'm late for my date, and I lose my pocketbook. It's just one thing after another today."
Etymology
1610s, from pocket + book, popularized in its sense as a paperback by the success of Pocket Books in the United States after its 1939 launch.