Pockets in Women's Clothing Were a Political Issue
A pocket is a small bag sewn into clothing. Their absence from women's clothes has been complained about for centuries.
A pocket is a small bag sewn into or attached to clothing. Their distribution has never been neutral: women's pockets were originally separate bags tied under skirts, and as fashions narrowed in the early nineteenth century they largely disappeared. Campaigners have objected ever since, and studies still find women's pockets substantially smaller than men's.
- A bag in clothing. *A coat pocket.*
- A small isolated area. *A pocket of resistance.*
- To take. *He pocketed the money.*
- Out of pocket — having lost money. *Left out of pocket.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | An inside pocket. | |
| Plural | pockets | Deep pockets. |
| Verb | Pocket the change. | |
| Adjective | A pocket dictionary. | |
| Related | poke | A pig in a poke. |
How it is used in a sentence
- A pig in a poke means an unseen purchase.A poke is a bag.
- Deep pockets means wealth.Ability to fund litigation.
- Pocket means a little bag.A diminutive of *poke*.
Pocket phrases
- Out of pocket — having spent your own money
- Deep pockets — substantial financial resources
- In someone's pocket — under their influence
- Pocket veto — an American legislative device
- Pick someone's pocket — steal from it
From Anglo-French *pokete*, a diminutive of *poke*, a bag — the same *poke* as in *a pig in a poke*.
Why do women's clothes have smaller pockets?
A legacy of nineteenth-century fashion, when narrow silhouettes displaced the tie-on pockets women had previously worn under skirts.
What is a pig in a poke?
Something bought without inspection. A poke is a bag, and the buyer who did not look inside might find a cat instead of a piglet.