POCKETBOOK

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does pocketbook mean? 

• POCKETBOOK (noun)
  The noun POCKETBOOK has 4 senses:

1. your personal financial means

2. a pocket-size case for holding papers and paper money

3. pocket-sized paperback book

4. a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)

  Familiarity information: POCKETBOOK used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• POCKETBOOK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Your personal financial means

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Context example:

that car is too expensive for my pocketbook

Hypernyms ("pocketbook" is a kind of...):

means; substance (considerable capital (wealth or income))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A pocket-size case for holding papers and paper money

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

billfold; notecase; pocketbook; wallet

Hypernyms ("pocketbook" is a kind of...):

case (a portable container for carrying several objects)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pocket-sized paperback book

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pocket book; pocket edition; pocketbook

Hypernyms ("pocketbook" is a kind of...):

paper-back book; paperback; paperback book; soft-cover; soft-cover book; softback; softback book (a book with paper covers)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bag; handbag; pocketbook; purse

Context example:

she reached into her bag and found a comb

Hypernyms ("pocketbook" is a kind of...):

container (any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another))

Meronyms (parts of "pocketbook"):

clasp (a fastener (as a buckle or hook) that is used to hold two things together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pocketbook"):

clutch; clutch bag (a woman's strapless purse that is carried in the hand)

etui (small ornamental ladies' bag for small articles)

evening bag (a handbag used with evening wear)

reticule (a woman's drawstring handbag; usually made of net or beading or brocade; used in 18th and 19th centuries)

shoulder bag (a large handbag that can be carried by a strap looped over the shoulder)

 Context examples 

Holmes examined it for some time, and then, folding it carefully up, he placed it in his pocketbook.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I will read you their names directly; here they are, in my pocketbook.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

My pocketbook is stuffed with the old coinage, and it’s a stubborn thing.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Her three notes—unluckily they were all in my pocketbook, or I should have denied their existence, and hoarded them for ever—I was forced to put them up, and could not even kiss them.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

John had praised her, and was undoing the old pocketbook which they called the 'bank', when Meg, knowing that it was quite empty, stopped his hand, saying nervously...

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He carefully scrutinised with his lens the talc shield which covered the top of the chimney and scraped off some ashes which adhered to its upper surface, putting some of them into an envelope, which he placed in his pocketbook.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Dear me, dear me, how unfortunate!” cried Milverton, taking out a bulky pocketbook.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“You are a blessed, bankrupt pair of fools. You have no facts in your pocketbook.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

To burgle his house is no more than to forcibly take his pocketbook—an action in which you were prepared to aid me.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)