line one's pockets

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

line one's pockets (third-person singular simple present lines one's pockets, present participle lining one's pockets, simple past and past participle lined one's pockets)

1. (idiomatic) To accumulate personal wealth, especially in an illegal or morally objectionable manner.
   • 1873 June 19, “Philadelphia's Rings”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 February 2009, page 1:

     The men who have lined their pockets with public plunder and made the Municipal Government a nest of thieves—will any one in his sober senses believe that in all these men did they were doing more than struggling for a continuance of their own power?

   • 1915, Joseph Conrad, chapter 7, in Victory: An Island Tale:

     And now, after lining his pockets with other people's money, he kidnaps a white girl belonging to an orchestra.

   • 2006 March 13, Douglas Waller, “Tax Cheats On The Federal Payroll”, in Time, retrieved 28 February 2009:

     In most cases, the scofflaws didn't pay their corporate income tax or company owners lined their pockets with the IRS payroll taxes they'd collected from their employees.

   • 2020 August 12, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Rail passenger services nationalised in all but name”, in Rail, page 6:

     However the Labour Party and rail unions regard the move as a step closer to full nationalisation. TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes said: "The ONS has candidly exposed the truth about our railways. They are now in public ownership. Grant Shapps must now take direct control of running them, rather than continue to line the pockets of privateers."

Synonyms

• feather one's nest

References

• “line one’s pocket”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.