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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

back-pocket en · VERB

Etymology

From back pocket.

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To put (something) into a back pocket.
    • “Right.” He back-pocketed the notebook and lifted the Nikon from my bag. “Take a few steps down the hill and point toward the ruins so I can get both in one shot.” 2003, Robert Eversz, Burning Garbo: A Nina Zero Novel, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, published 2005, →ISBN, page 23:
  2. (idiomatic, transitive) To put (something) aside for future use; to keep in reserve.
    • “All the lyrics talk about is humility and heartbreak, and then at the end it’s exuberance and joy,” Hines said. “The only way that fits is if the Caps win the Stanley Cup, so I sort of back-pocketed the idea for years. I put together multiple iterations of it in my head, and it just never panned out, because they never ended up finishing the deal.” 2019 June 7, Scott Allen, “How Mumford and Sons became the soundtrack for Capitals’ Stanley Cup triumph”, in The Washington Post:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
backpocket alternative lexicographic
back-pockets Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
back-pocketing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
back-pocketed Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
back-pocketed Tense=Past lexicographic

Relateds

in one's back pocket