English

Verb

line one's pockets

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

     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, Victory: An Island Tale, ch. 7:

     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," Time, (retrieved 28 Feb 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.

Synonyms

• feather one's nest