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pocketful

pocketful

7 3.0
An amount of something that fills a pocket
  • noun
  • /ˈpɑkɪtˌfʊl/
translation icon : puñado
  • After shopping, I walked home with a pocketful of change from the store.
  • a pocketful of money
  • a pocketful of cash
  • a pocketful of rye

Examples

  • Five years ago, he walked in with holes in his shoes and a pocketful of dirty postcards.

  • By the fourth inning, he'd collected a pocketful of telephone numbers from witnesses.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Well, he showed up here around the end of the war with a pocketful of money.

  • A pocketful of change falls on the floor.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • If you got a good car, a pocketful of money, and you're a young man...

  • I've got a pocketful of money burning a hole in my pocket...

  • When you come home from a networking event with a pocketful of business cards, a drawer isn't a good place to file them.

    Blog text (28)
  • This wouldn't be the first time Yoshitani left a top port job with a pocketful of cash.

    Blog text (11)
  • Most of the time, I'd come back with a pocketful of little bullets of lipstick named things like Tropical Ice and Tart Tangerine.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • One of the young monks produced a pocketful of leaves, sprouts of the weeds that had begun to emerge on the mountain slopes.

    Fiction book (2001)

Synonyms

spoonful
vspocketful
26 1.0

An amount of something that fills a spoon

is larger and suited to carry about on the body
fistful
vspocketful
21 2.7

A small amount you can hold in a closed hand

is slightly larger and intended for carrying in clothing
bucketful
vspocketful
4 1.8

An amount that fills a bucket

is much smaller and designed to be kept on the person
bagful
vspocketful
4 1.1

An amount that fills a bag, like apples or candies

is smaller and designed to be carried on the person
trunkful
vspocketful
  • US
2 4.4

An amount that fills a large suitcase or a car's storage space

is far smaller and suitable for wearing or carrying daily
sackful
vspocketful
1 3.2

An amount that fills a sack, like a large bag of apples

is much smaller and meant for storage on the body
drawerful
vspocketful
1 3.1

An amount of things that fills a drawer

is far smaller and suited for personal carrying
shovelful
vspocketful
1 2.8

An amount of earth or snow that fills a shovel

is smaller and meant for keeping with personal items
purseful
vspocketful
  • Archaic
1 8.9

An amount of small items like coins that fills a small bag

is smaller and designed to fit inside clothing
bowlful
vspocketful
1 2.2

An amount of something that fills a bowl

is more compact and meant for personal carrying
truckful
vspocketful
  • US
1 2.7

An amount that fills a truck

is vastly smaller and used for personal portability
palmful
vspocketful
1 4.2

An amount you can hold in the palm of one hand

is a bit larger and meant to be carried on the person
potful
vspocketful
1 1.9

An amount that fills a pot

is smaller and intended for everyday body carriage
pailful
vspocketful
1 4.4

An amount that fills a pail

is smaller and meant to be carried on the body
chestful
vspocketful
1 5.1

An amount of things that fills a chest

is much smaller and meant to fit inside clothing
carful
vspocketful
1 8.2

A load of things that fills a car

is much smaller and meant to be kept close to the body
shipful
vspocketful
  • Archaic
1 8.1

An amount large enough to fill a ship with goods or people

is extremely smaller and intended to be carried on one person
bottleful
vspocketful
2.2

An amount of liquid that fills a bottle

is generally larger and meant to be kept on the person
jarful
vspocketful
2.5

An amount that fills a jar

is often larger and used for carrying in clothing
canful
vspocketful
5.2

The amount that fills a can

is larger than that and fits on the person
containerful
vspocketful
3.7

The amount that fills a container

is more limited in size and meant to be portable on the person
cartonful
vspocketful
2.4

An amount that fills a carton like a milk box

is smaller and intended to be kept on the person
shoeful
vspocketful
9.9

An amount that a shoe can hold

is smaller and intended to live in clothing spaces

Compounds

pocketful of dreams
  • Literature
1 5.7

Many hopes about the future that help someone keep going

How Much

sackful
1 3.2
bagful
4 1.1
pocketful
7 3.0
handful
81 1.0

Surface Forms

pocketful singular
pocketfuls plural

Morphology

pocketful = pocket (transparent) = pocket + ful

The meaning is directly formed from 'pocket' + '-ful' meaning 'full of a pocket', which learners can readily infer.

Etymology

The word pocketful is built from the two parts pocket and -ful, where -ful means 'full of'. So a pocketful is an amount 'enough to fill a pocket', which is why we use it for a small amount that fits in your pocket.