earmark

UK/ˈɪəmɑːk/US/ˈɪ(ə)ɹˌmɑɹk/

verbC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,392 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: earmarked, earmarks, earmarking

To earmark is to set something aside for a particular purpose. Earmark the funds, earmarked for repairs, earmark him for promotion.

The image is literal: farmers cut a notch in a sheep's ear to show whose it was, so an earmarked thing is claimed in advance. In American politics an earmark is money directed to a specific local project inside a larger bill.

Definitions of earmark

1verbearmarkTo set something aside for a particular purpose.C1
“The council has earmarked money for a new playground in the park.”

earmark is a setting aside.

Where it comes from

Ear plus mark, from the notch cut in livestock's ears to show ownership.

The is derived from ear + mark. The is derived from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

earmark in the wild

As a result, Congress removed the federal earmark for the bridge in 2005.
Gravina Island Bridge
TCS creates databases of the earmarks that appear in congressional spending bills.
Taxpayers for Common Sense
The project received a $223 million earmark in 2005 and was later cancelled on September 21, 2007.
Taxpayers for Common Sense
There are many rules and regulations concerning the use of earmarks between states and countries.
Earmark (agriculture)
Tasmanian sheep and cattle must be earmarked before they become six months old.
Earmark (agriculture)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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