pocketbook

/ˌpɑkətˈbʊk/

/ˈpɒkɪtbʊk/

Other forms: pocketbooks

Pocketbook is another name for a purse or wallet, a place to keep money or other essentials. Pocketbook can also refer to the amount of money you have, even if it’s in your mattress.

In the UK, pocketbook is a pocket-sized notebook, but in the US it's usually a small bag typically carried by women. Figuratively, your pocketbook is your budget: "Those shoes are way too expensive for my pocketbook." In the early 1600s, a pocketbook was "a book small enough to fit in a pocket," and by 1722 it became "a booklike leather folder for papers." In the early 1800s, it came to mean "woman's handbag."

Definitions of pocketbook

1. noun

   a pocket-size case for holding papers and paper money
   synonyms: billfold, notecase, wallet

   type of:

   case

   a portable container for carrying several objects
2. noun

   a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)
   synonyms: bag, handbag, purse

   types:

   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

   type 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)
3. noun

   your personal financial means
   “that car is too expensive for my pocketbook”

   type of:

   means, substance

   considerable capital (wealth or income)
4. noun

   pocket-sized paperback book
   synonyms: pocket book, pocket edition

   type of:

   paper-back book, paperback, paperback book, soft-cover, soft-cover book, softback, softback book

   a book with paper covers