Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to steal, to grab.

1825		York Herald 10 Sept. 2/5: His hands in his pockets, as if feeling for the guineas he pouched.
1829		‘Lag’s Lament’ (trans. of an untitled cant poem) in Vidocq (1829) IV 265: I pouches his blunt, and I draws his ring, / Prigged his buckles and every thing.
1830		Lytton Paul Clifford II 103: Each gentleman having carefully pouched his share [etc.].
1850		Bell’s Life in London 13 Oct. 7/3: If he has pouched he cannot escape, and if he has not pouched you ought not to disturb him.
1856		Huddersfield Chron. (Yorks.) 28 June 3/5: You’ve pouched the good gentleman’s money.
1882		A. Trumble Mysteries of N.Y. 62: [T]hey trook his money and calmly pouched it.
1889		Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette 4 Jan. n.p.: Two hundred solid quids he pouched, And then he slid [F&H].
1889		Dead Bird (Sydney) 27 July 7/1: That sonsie Glasgie bodie pouched the glittering gold.
1895		‘G.G.’ Sporting Sketches in Sportsman (Melbourne) (18/10/1898) 5/8: ‘Old Pinky, with his opportunities, had pouched at least a score’.
1900		Sporting Times 3 Feb. 1/5: She pouched the two hundred she won at Lloyd’s.
1910		Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Nov. 28/1: ‘That,’ said the Bookie, blandly, ‘is / As true as death. Get wise to this: / We’ll always pouch, you’ll always pay, / From now right on to Judgment Day.’.
1919		‘Sapper’ Mufti 153: Thereby inspiring confidence in all who read, and incidentally pouching some of the Bradburys.
1923		Wodehouse Leave it to Psmith (1993) 517: You’ll pick up your dogs and run round as quick as you can make it and pouch the thing.
1954		‘Nicholas Blake’ Whisper in the Gloom (1959) 37: Go on. Pouch it.

2. to give a gift of money.

1844		Disraeli Coningsby in Novels and Tales (1866) 32: He had been loaded with kindness, [...] and, finally, had been pouched in a manner worthy of a Marquess and of a grandfather.
1864		B. Hemyng Eton School Days 92: Where did you get it? Who pouched you?
1880		Disraeli Endymion III iii 25: Your grandfather [...] pouched me at Harrow, and it was the largest pouch I ever had.

3. to eat.

1889

‘’Arry in Parry’ in Punch 29 June in P. Marks (2006) 94: Fancy pouching your prog on a terrace.

4. (Aus.) to drink.

1910

Bulletin (Sydney) 4 Aug. 13/4: As we walked towards the shanty a local celebrity known as ‘The Gunner’ met us, and pulling a bottle of whisky from under his whiskers, invited us to ‘pouch a drop or two.’ We did; in fact, we pouched the lot, and left ‘The Gunner’ sitting on the roadside weeping bitterly beside the empty bottle.