Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Small enough to fit into a vest pocket.
  • adjective Very small; diminutive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Small enough to be carried in a vest pocket or other small container.
  • adjective By extension, anything smaller than would ordinarily be expected.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From vest + pocket, referring to the pockets of a suit vest, which are only sized to hold watches, handkerchiefs, wallets, and similarly small items.

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Examples

  • Associated Press A 'matchbox' camera and vest-pocket darkroom, used behind enemy lines during World War II.

    Kodak: From Brownie to EasyShare 2012

  • They want to reclaim the radical social vision of evangelical Christianity and the absolute independence of the evangelical community from vest-pocket political party captivity.

    Clergy Leadership Network 2009

  • He called them vest-pocket dogs and admired their lively spirit and work ethic.

    Five Good Small-Breed Bird Hunting Dogs 2009

  • New York's urban gardens and vest-pocket parks are littered with the best intentions of architects who might previously have been on a winning streak.

    A Hedge Grows in Midtown Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011

  • Park concerts with singers like Judy Collins, an exquisite vest-pocket park he created as an oases in mid-town Manhattan, to memorialize elegant Babe Paley, and the swimming pool he opened in Brooklyn, along with all his various accomplishments at the Met and afterward, contributed to Hoving's living legend, which endures now even after he's gone.

    Michael Henry Adams: Thomas Hoving, Wendy Burden and the End of Elite Privelige? 2010

  • Park concerts with singers like Judy Collins, an exquisite vest-pocket park he created as an oases in mid-town Manhattan, to memorialize elegant Babe Paley, and the swimming pool he opened in Brooklyn, along with all his various accomplishments at the Met and afterward, contributed to Hoving's living legend, which endures now even after he's gone.

    Thomas Hoving, Wendy Burden and the End of Elite Privelige? 2010

  • 'Mission: Impossible' and 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' had plenty of vest-pocket kingdoms in Europe to choose from.

    "HUMAN TARGET" & THE SCEPTER'D ISLE Toby O'B 2010

  • In 1971, she donated prize money to city programs such as “Dress up Your Neighborhood” and helped to create and promote vest-pocket parks throughout the New York boroughs.

    Mollie Parnis. 2009

  • You got a cute vest-pocket, Master, which you can make both slow and faster.

    Celebrating The Johnny Mercer Centennial 2009

  • Nobody here seems to care whether the show is good; they're happy to have a vest-pocket version of European avant-garde extravaganzas like "" Documenta '' in town.

    Santa Fe Raises Its Sites 2008

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