pouch

English

Etymology

From Middle English pouche, poche, from Old Northern French pouche, borrowed from Old French poche, puche (whence French poche; compare also the Anglo-Norman variant poke), of Germanic origin: from Old Low Franconian *poka (“pouch”) (compare Middle Dutch poke, Old English pocca, dialectal German Pfoch) or Frankish. Compare pocket, poke.

Pronunciation
  • (US, UK) IPA(key): /paʊt͡ʃ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -aʊtʃ

Noun

pouch (plural pouches)

  1. A small bag usually closed with a drawstring.
  2. A pocket in which a marsupial carries its young.
    Synonym: marsupium
  3. Any pocket or bag-shaped object, such as a cheek pouch.
  4. (slang, dated, derogatory) A protuberant belly; a paunch.
  5. A cyst or sac containing fluid.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of S. Sharp to this entry?)
  6. (botany) A silicle, or short pod, as of the shepherd's purse.
  7. A bulkhead in the hold of a vessel, to prevent grain etc. from shifting.

Derived terms

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

Verb

pouch (third-person singular simple present pouches, present participle pouching, simple past and past participle pouched)

  1. (transitive) To enclose within a pouch.
  2. (transitive) To transport within a pouch, especially a diplomatic pouch.
    We pouched the encryption device to our embassy in Beijing.
  3. (of fowls and fish) To swallow.
    • 1713, William Derham, Physico-theology, or a Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God‎:
      And, to name no more, the common Heron hath its most remarkable Parts adapted to this Service; long Legs for wading; and a long Neck answerable thereto to reach Prey; a wide, extensive Throat to pouch it; long Toes, with strong hooked Talons […]
    • 1820, Thomas Frederick Salter, The Trollerʻs Guide: A New and Complete Practical Treatise on the Art of Trolling Or Fishing for Jack and Pike‎:
      […] } but if they shake the line and move, after they have remained still three or four minutes, you may conclude the fish has pouched the bait and feels the hooks, then wind up your slack and strike, but not violently, and always mind to keep the point of your rod a little raised while you are playing and killing your fish […]
  4. (obsolete) To pout.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Ainsworth to this entry?)
  5. (obsolete) To pocket; to put up with.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for pouch in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Translations
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.