divvy

American  

[div-ee] / ˈdɪv i /

verb (used with or without object)

divvied, divvying

1. to divide; distribute (often followed byup ).

   The thieves divvied up the loot.

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noun

divvies plural

1. a distribution or sharing.

divvy ¹ British  

/ ˈdɪvɪ /

noun

1. short for dividend, esp (formerly) one paid by a cooperative society

2. a share; portion

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verb

1. to divide and share

divvy ² British  

/ ˈdɪvɪ /

noun

1. dialect a stupid or foolish person

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• divvies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of divvy

1870–75; div(ide) or div(idend) + -y ²

Explanation

To divvy something is to split it up between two or more people. You might divvy up a pizza among four friends, giving everyone two slices. If you and a friend have a lemonade stand, you'll divvy up the proceeds at the end of the day, sharing the money. You can also divvy other things: "Let's divvy this painting job — you do the trim, and I'll paint the walls." As a noun, a divvy is a share or a part of something — the word, from American English, is a shortened version of dividend, a divided payment, from the Latin dividendum, "thing to be divided."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

divvy divvies divvied divvying

FIFA’s prize money goes directly to national football federations, but each federation has the discretion to divvy up the funds however it wants, according to FIFA’s official governing documents.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 12, 2026

Colleges can divvy up the money among athletes and sports programs however they choose.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

Rather than going big on a few risky bets, they instead divvy up money, in some cases, across hundreds of specialized investment teams.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026

Developers rejoice: L.A. is about to divvy up $387 million for affordable housing projects.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2025

Kyle had decided to divvy up his gift card five ways.

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein

It could be one of the defining moments between now and the next general election, as the government divvies up spending for the health service, defence, schools, the police, prisons, courts and much else.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2025

The $1.5 billion offer price, which divvies out to about $14 per share, represents a 45% premium to WalkMe’s Tuesday closing share price.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 5, 2024

The pro rata model, which is used by industry heavyweights like Spotify and Apple Music, pools all subscription money and divvies it up based on total streams across the platform.

From The Verge ● Jul. 21, 2022

Congress divvies up the federal government into 12 pieces for purposes of determining annual spending levels.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 22, 2022

Some poor divvies he'll bully-rag into swearin' lies an' others he'll buy.

From The Big-Town Round-Up by Raine, William MacLeod

Not how much GDP grew, but how it was divvied up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

And Standard Oil’s progeny formed the core of the “Seven Sisters” oil majors that divvied up among themselves the Middle East’s resources until the 1970s.

From Barron's ● May 7, 2026

Shippers would have had to pay a fee per metric ton of “excess” carbon-dioxide emissions into an IMO-managed fund, with the money then divvied up to various governments and businesses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025

Athletes in all sports would be eligible for payments and schools would be given the freedom to decide how that money is divvied up among sports programs.

From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2024

We took everything home, divvied it up, and went off to pack—Katz to the bedroom where all his other stuff was, I to my basement HQ.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

That can mean multiweek exclusive global runs for potential blockbusters like December’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” or divvying up screens, as “Wicked: For Good” and “Zootopia 2” will do over Thanksgiving.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025

Those teams haggle over international marketing rights like postwar leaders divvying up a continent.

From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2024

“Joan,” a new play by Daniel Goldstein directed by David Ivers at South Coast Repertory, gives it a shot by divvying up the central role between two actors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2024

They banged on maps of Africa, as if divvying up the continent to their liking.

From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2023

Vonetta was good at keeping track of things and divvying them up between us, so I let her be in charge of handing out the “new state” candy.

From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia