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1a small piece of material like a small bag sewn into or onto a piece of clothing so that you can carry things in it a coat pocket I put the note in my pocket. Turn out your pockets (= empty your pockets). Take your hands out of your pockets! a pocket dictionary (= one that is small enough to fit in your pocket)
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small container - 2a small bag or container fastened to something so that you can put things in it, for example, in a car door or in a bag Information about safety procedures is in the pocket in front of you (= on a plane).
- 3[usually singular] used to talk about the amount of money that you have to spend We have vacations to suit every pocket. He had no intention of paying for the meal out of his own pocket. The libel case was a huge drain on her pocket. see deep pockets small group/area
- 4a small group or area that is different from its surroundings There are still a few isolated pockets of resistance to the new regime. a pocket of air Geologists have found a few remaining pockets of iron ore. see air pocket in pool, etc.
- 5(in the game of pool and some other similar games) any of the holes or nets around the edges of the table that you have to hit the ball into Idioms
in clothing
to be controlled or strongly influenced by someone
if money burns a hole in your pocket, you want to spend it as soon as you have it
to spend some of your own money on something She was forced to dip into her own pocket to pay for the repairs.
to have influence or power over someone, for example a police officer or a politician, especially by threatening them or by offering them money
to be certain to win something
having lost money as a result of something That one mistake left him thousands of dollars out of pocket. compare out-of-pocket
to steal something from someone's pocket without them noticing The back pocket on a pair of jeans is the easiest one to pick. related noun pickpocket
Check pronunciation: pocket