pocketful of dreams

1 5.7

Many hopes about the future that help someone keep going

noun

Literature

: puñado de sueños

Though he had little money, he always carried a pocketful of dreams.

Examples

With nothing but a pocketful of dreams, she set out to travel the world.
She carries a pocketful of dreams wherever she goes.
A pocketful of dreams was all he needed to stay motivated through hard times.
With a pocketful of dreams, anything is possible!
With a pocketful of dreams, she set out on her journey to become an artist.
He approached each day with a pocketful of dreams, eager to see what the future would bring.
After years of hard work, she finally felt confident enough to chase her pocketful of dreams.

How Hopeful

pocketful of dreams

Literature

1 5.7

hopefulness

5 1.3

futureless

1 8.4

Surface Forms

pocketful of dreams singular

pocketfuls of dreams plural

Morphology

pocketful + of + dream

The meaning 'a large number of aspirations' is directly derivable from combining 'pocketful' (a quantity that fits in a pocket) with 'dreams' (aspirations); although metaphorical, the composition maps quantity onto hopes in a predictable way. This

Etymology

The expression pocketful of dreams creates a simple picture: someone putting small hopes into a pocket like tiny treasures. Keeping a pocketful of dreams means carrying many private hopes close to you, so it now means 'having many hopes for the future'.