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

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Etymology

Origin of divvy

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

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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

“I propose a new, audacious, and perhaps desperate strategy: a ‘jailbreak,’ ” it wrote to two others, proceeding to divvy up research tasks.

From Slate ● Oct. 25, 2026

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

Couples determined to be in committed intimate relationships generally have to divvy up property acquired while they were together, even if one party paid for it and holds the title.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026

They stuck by each other to chase the one thing they couldn’t divvy up: their dream of skating at the Olympics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026

I’m really not in the mood to divvy up everything into eleven equal parts, factoring in age, body weight, and physical output.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

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 50/30/20 rule is a popular budgeting framework that divvies up after-tax income into three buckets: needs, wants and savings.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2022

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 William MacLeod Raine

On Martha’s Vineyard, key beaches emerged decades ago, when families who owned large swaths of oceanfront farmland divvied up beach lots and sold strips of land to neighbors and friends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 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

His vast empire, divvied between News Corp. and Fox Corp., allows his outlets to have different leanings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2025

The rest get divvied up to other major conferences, along with the moves of Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12 to the SEC.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 30, 2024

Poland became a pie that had been divvied up to be eaten by giants.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

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

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

From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2023

The office environment is calm and collegial, with meteorologists sharing tips as they gather around screens to watch the latest storm progress and divvying up duties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2023

One less canoe meant divvying up the cargo and redistributing the weight across the remaining canoes.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

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