▪ I. pouch, n.
(paʊtʃ)
Also 4–6 pouche, powche, 5 poche, 5–8 powch, 6–7 (8 Sc.) poutch, 7 pooch, 8– Sc. pootch.
[ME. pouche, a. ONF. pouche (13th c. in Littré: cf. mod. Norm. dial. pouchet, in Perche pouchon (Godef.)), parallel form of OF. poche bag, pouch: see poke n.1]
1. a. A bag, sack, or receptacle of small or moderate size, used for various purposes, esp. for carrying small articles; a pocket as a distinct receptacle worn outside the dress.
| c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 11 A ioly poppere baar he in his pouche. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 408 The graynes ripe,..Putte in a poche [L. fiscella] of palme, and with the wrynge Let presse hem. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 411/1 Powche, marsupium. c 1496 Serm. Episc. Puer. (W. de W.) b iij, Ther is no vanyte in no partye of the worlde but we ben redy to bye it... Euyll fasshened garmentes & deuyllysshe shoon and slyppers of frensmen, powches and paynted gyrdels of spaynardes. 1573–80 Baret Alv. P 606 A Pouch: a great bag, or satchell. 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 224 By his Side a Pouch he wore Replete with strange Hermetick Powder. 1733 Neal Hist. Purit. II. 234 Seven pictures of God the Father in form of a little old man in a blue and red coat with a pouch by his side. 1861 Eng. Wom. Dom. Mag. III. 119/1 The little Pouches..still continue to be worn, suspended from the waistband by a chain and hook, and sometimes by a cord. |
b. spec. A small bag in which money is carried; a purse. Now chiefly
arch. or
literary.
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 259 Of whiche [gold] to litel al in my pouche is. 1483 Cath. Angl. 289/1 A Powche, vbi A purse. 1515 Barclay Egloges iii. (1570) C iij/2 These..dare I not playnly touche, For all these crosses and siluer in my pouche. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. iii. 96 Tester ile haue in pouch when thou shalt lacke. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. ii. 1134 Could Catechise a Money-Box, And prove all Powches Orthodox. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 240 Nothing so melancholy as the meditations of a poor devil without penny in pouch. 1832 H. Martineau Ella of Gar. i. 14 Out comes the pouch, as sure as I show myself to gather the rent. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus xiii. 8 Know he boasts but a pouch of empty cobwebs. |
c. A pocket in a garment. Chiefly
Sc.| c 1610 Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1735) 9 He had always a New Testament in English in his Pouch. 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 87 For fear of spoiling their Caps..in the Rain, they will put 'em in their Pouches, and go Bare-Headed. 1820 Combe Consol. ii. (Chandos ed.) 153 From his pouch his sketch-book drew. 1889 Barrie Window in Thrums xix. 180 She saw 'im twa or three times put his hand in his pouch. 1901 Scotsman 12 Mar. 5/4 Standing about..‘wi' naething in his pouches but his hauns’. |
d. A leathern bag or case used by soldiers for carrying ammunition. Hence
transf. a wooden cartridge-box.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xii. 57 You must be carefull to cleare the decks with..fire-pots, poutches of powder. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 19 Their Bandaliers fill'd with Powder, and Shot in their Pooches. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. 23 He brought a great Leather Pouch which held about a Pound and half of Powder,..and another with Shot. 1810 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. VI. 217 A letter..complaining of certain pouches lately sent out from England for the use of the Portuguese troops. 1853 Stocqueler Mil. Encycl., Pouch, a case of strong leather, lined with tin divisions, for the purpose of carrying a soldier's ammunition. |
e. A mail-bag (also
mail-pouch: see
mail n.3 4 b),
esp. a smaller bag enclosed in another; also, a letter-carrier's bag.
| 1879 Post Master General's Rep. in Parl. Papers 1878–9 (C. 2405) XXI. 197 The..number of pouches exchanged with these Travelling Post Offices..in 24 hours is now 1090. 1889 Century Mag. XXXVIII. 606/2 At 3 o'clock a.m. the European mails closed, and the pouches put on board the Aller carried the usual copies for the foreign circulation. |
f. = diplomatic bag s.v. diplomatic a.
and n. A. 3.
| 1958 L. Durrell Mountolive vi. 140 When the Syrians want to be clever, they don't use a diplomatic courier; they confide their pouch to a lady, the vice-consul's niece. 1967 M. Childs Taint of Innocence iv. 240 He put the locked briefcase on Wyant's desk. ‘Watrous said he thought you wouldn't mind sending it back to him by pouch.’ 1968 D. Torr Treason Line 163 I've been down here for the past hour checking the airgrams for the Washington pouch. 1974 Lebende Sprachen XIX. 39/2 US pouch—BE/US diplomatic bag. Kuriersack, -tasche. |
2. Naut. One of a number of divisions made by small bulkheads or partitions in a ship's hold, for stowing corn or other loose cargo.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vii. 33 The Ballast will sometimes shoot, that is run from one side to another, and so will Corne and Salt, if you make not Pouches or Bulk-heads. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Powches, so the Seamen call small Bulkheads made in the Hold of a Ship, to stow Corn, Goods, or the like, that it do not shoot from one side to the other. |
3. Applied to a natural receptacle resembling a bag or pocket.
a. Anat.,
Zool.,
Path. A cavity in an animal body, like a bag (usually small, and either permanent or temporary); a sac, cyst.
spec. † (
a) the stomach of a fish:
= poke n.1 6 (
obs.); (
b) the distensible gular sac beneath the bill in certain birds, as the pelican and cormorant; (
c) a dilatation of the cheeks in certain mammals, a cheek-pouch; (
d) the receptacle in which marsupial mammals carry their undeveloped young; the marsupium.
| c 1450 Two Cookery-bks. 101 Pike boyled... Slyt the pouuche, And kepe the fey or the lyuer, and kutte awey the gall. 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 68 [The shark] is the most ravenous fish knowne in the sea... In the puch of them hath beene found hatts, cappes, shooes, shirts, leggs and armes of men. 1739 S. Sharp Surg. xxxvi. 205 The Spot of the Vessel..where the Disease begins, generally recedes in such a manner from the Surface of the Artery by the force of the Blood..pushing it outwards, as to form a large Pouch or Cyst. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 197 This is a pouch, the entrance of which lies immediately under the tongue, and capable of holding near seven quarts of water. 1797 M. Baillie Morb. Anat. (1807) 302 These pouches are often large enough to admit the end of the finger, and contain occasionally small calculi. 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) I. 67 note, The face of this Ape is shaped somewhat like that of a Dog. The cheeks are furnished with pouches. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 299 Isopoda. The females carry their ova under the second and third segments of the body, in a pouch formed of approximated scales. 1856 Huxley in Q. Jrnl. Microscop. Sc. IV. 192 The ovum passes..into the ovicell—there as in a marsupial pouch, to undergo its further development. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 435 The respiratory system consists of gill-pouches or sacs, seven on each side in the Lampreys. |
b. Bot. A bag-like cavity, sac, or cyst, in a plant;
spec. a seed-vessel resembling a bag or purse, a short or rounded pod, a silicle.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 191 b, It creepeth low by the ground,..with a seede inclosed in little powches, like a shepheardes purse. 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) III. 48 Isatis. Pouch deciduous. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. I. 9 The silicle or pouch is a shorter, broader pod [than the silique]. 1862 Darwin Fertil. Orchids ii. 69 As soon as the disc is drawn out of the pouch the movement of depression commences. |
c. = bag n. 12 c.
| 1928 J. Buchan Runagates Club iv. 134 There were dark pouches under his eyes. a 1953 E. O'Neill Hughie (1959) 8 His blue eyes have drooping lids and puffy pouches under them. 1980 P. Harcourt Tomorrow's Treason i. ii. 37 Pouches under his eyes as if he hadn't slept. |
† 4. Name of some game.
Obs.| 1600 Nashe Summers Last Will 2048 Thou and I will play at poutch, to morrow morning for a breakfast. |
5. [
f. pouch v. 4.] A present of money, a ‘tip’.
slang or
colloq.| 1880 Disraeli Endym. III. iii. 25 Your grandfather..pouched me at Harrow, and it was the largest pouch I ever had. |
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
pouch-belt,
pouch-lid; formed into or having a pouch-like or baggy shape, as
pouch shirt,
pouch waist, etc.;
pouch-like,
pouch-shaped adjs.;
pouch-bone, a marsupial bone (in marsupials and monotremes);
pouch-gill, (
a) the pouch-like gill of the
Marsipobranchii or
Cyclostomi; (
b) a fish having pouch-like gills, as a lamprey;
pouch-gilled a., having pouch-like gills, marsipobranchiate;
pouch-hook (
U.S.), a hook on which a mail-bag is hung;
pouch-mouse, a rodent having cheek-pouches, a pocket-
mouse;
pouch-toad, a toad of the genus
Nototrema, in which the eggs are hatched in a pouch or hole in the back of the mother. See also
pouch-maker, etc.
| 1812 Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 167 Cavalry uniform, a *pouch belt, and a sabre-tache. |
| 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. L iij, As ye wolde fasten a nedle with threde on your bosome or *pouche lid. |
| 1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 572/2 Two prolongations..of a *pouch-like form. 1895 S. S. Buckman in Pop. Sci. Monthly Jan. 374 The pouchlike cheeks of a baby. |
| 1861 J. R. Greene Man. Anim. Kingd. ii. Cœlent. 117 *Pouch-shaped processes. |
| 1898 St. James' Gaz. 12 Jan. 12/1 The *pouch shirt is the last new make. |
| 1897 Daily News 6 July 8/4 The modified edition of the *pouch waist as adopted by most of the Englishwomen who venture on that style. |
▪ II. pouch, v. (
paʊtʃ)
[f. pouch n.; cf. poach v.1] 1. trans. a. To put into or enclose in a pouch; usually, to put into one's pocket, to pocket; also
fig. or in extended sense, to take possession of, to ‘bag’.
| a 1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) C iv, Ch a [= I've] poucht them vp all ready, they are sure in hold. 1686 F. Spence tr. Varillas' Ho. Medicis 12 He had already pouched the half ring. a 1774 Fergusson Election Poems (1845) 42 They pouch the gowd, nor fash the town For weights and scales to weigh them. 1832 H. Martineau Ella of Gar. iii. 38 He twisted their necks..and pouched them in his plaid. 1840 F. Trollope Widow Married ii, A pretty sum you must have pouched last night. 1890 Sci. Amer. 25 Jan. 55/3 They [letters] have next to be ‘pouched’... The packages of letters are thrown dexterously into the proper compartments. |
b. fig. To ‘pocket’, put up with.
| 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxiii, I will pouch up no such affront before my parishioners. |
c. Cricket. To catch (the ball); also with the batsman as object.
| 1910 A. A. Milne Day's Play 114, I heard Slip call ‘Mine’ and he pouched the ball. 1963 Times 13 June 13/3 A series of pulls which ended with a catch at the wicket would appear in this form: ‘After several cow-shots into the Great Beyond, Basher was neatly pouched by the timber-watcher.’ 1970 Times 12 Jan. 7/7 Neither catch that Fletcher dropped was at all easy, but..Bobby Simpson or Philip Sharpe might well have pouched them both. |
2. To take into the stomach, to swallow: said of fishes (
cf. prec. 3 a (
a)), and of certain birds; also, to take into a pouch in the mouth or gullet.
| 1653 Walton Angler vii. 154 The Pike..will have line enough to go to his hold and powch the bait. 1774 White in Phil. Trans. LXV. 267 Swifts when..shot..discover a little lump of insects in their mouths, which they pouch and hold under their tongue. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 13 First allowing the fish, by a little slackening the line a small time to pouch the bait. 1873 G. C. Davies Mount. & Mere xxiii. 201 He refused to pouch it. |
† 3. To swell out or protrude (the lips) into a pouch-like form; to purse the lips; to pout.
rare.
| 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal xiv. 266 If this make thee frown, And pouch thy lips out. [Cf. 1680 in pouching vbl. n. below.] 1754 Richardson Grandison (1810) V. x. 53 He pouched his mouth, and reared himself up and swelled; but answered me not. |
4. [
f. prec. 1 b or c.] To supply the purse or pocket of; to give a present of money to; to ‘tip’. (With the person or the money as
obj., or with double
obj.)
slang or
colloq.| 1810 in Dowden Shelley (1886) I. ii. 53 [To him [Ed. Graham] Shelley wrote..April 1 [1810], requesting him].. to pouch those venal villains, the reviewers. 1842 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 5, I shall not have to pouch Hawtrey or my Tutor. 1845 J. T. Smith Bk. for Rainy Day 66 Charles Townley, Esq...pouched me half a guinea to purchase paper and chalk. 1864 Hemyng Eton School Days i. 4 ‘Did your governor {oqq}pouch{cqq} you?’ asked Purefoy, as they were going towards the Station. 1880 [see pouch n. 5]. |
5. Dressmaking.
a. To make or arrange (a part of dress) so as to hang loosely in a pouch-like form.
b. intr. said of the dress.
| 1897 Daily News 6 July 8/4 The muslin is lightly pouched over the belt. 1902 Daily Tel. 2 Aug. 3/3 The bodice is cut..tightly fitting at the back and sides and below the waist, yet pouching over in the front. |
6. intr. To form a pouch or pouch-like cavity. (See 5 b, and
pouching vbl. n.)
Hence (chiefly in sense 6)
ˈpouching vbl. n. (also quasi-
concr.) and
ppl. a.| 1680 Bunyan Badman Wks. (ed. Virtue) 450 He would stand gloating, and hanging down his head in a sullen, pouching manner. 1698 Tyson in Phil. Trans. XX. 130 The pouching or bagging out at both Extreams. 1847–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 791/1 Dilations or pouchings can nowhere be seen. 1849–52 Ibid. V. 847/1 The great omentum is a pouching out of the meso-gastrium. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 16 Feb. 3/2 The balloon sleeve and the pouching bodice were all too kind to the careless. |