deep pockets

English

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Noun

deep pockets pl (normally plural, singular deep pocket)

1. (literally) Pockets long enough inside to accommodate more than average number or size of contents.

   I like the deep pockets on these pants because my cellphone doesn't fall out when I run with my dog.

   It was a good thing his coat had deep pockets because he has big hands and it was quite cold that day.

2. (idiomatic) An ample supply of money, especially money which one is willing to spend; the possessor of such money.

   We need an investor with deep pockets to help us get our invention to market.

   • 1959 December 21, “The Biggest Fund”, in Time:

     Out of deep pockets in three weeks flowed 18 six-figure gifts totaling $3,100,000.

   • 1989, V. Hans, M. Ermann, “Responses to Corporate versus Individual Wrongdoing”, in Law and Human Behavior, volume 13, number 2, page 153:

     It is commonly claimed that juries award plaintiffs who sue corporations larger sums of money because the jurors believe that the corporations, with their "deep pockets," can afford more.

   • 2003, Jeffrey Manns, “Insuring against Terror?”, in The Yale Law Journal, volume 112, number 8, page 2529:

     The federal government was the one party with the deep pockets to meet the rent-seeking needs of insurers and high-risk property owners.