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

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

In a joint interview with the Journal, Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig spoke about their efforts to craft regulations and divvy up oversight of the crypto industry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2025

Prior to coming to sabotage school, Dasch was always "hungry like the dickens," and he made sure to carefully divvy up his bread ration and carry it with him.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

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

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

Sixty-four teams are divvied up into eight divisions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025

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

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 answer depended on how the Southside was divvied up between the two schools in the aftermath of the court battle.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

But too often when thinking of reciprocity, we think of like for like, or divvying up expenses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

The second is that Central and Eastern European countries have a history of great powers divvying up their lands, first in 1938, in Munich with Adolf Hitler, and then in Yalta 1945, with Josef Stalin.

From Slate ● Feb. 20, 2025

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

From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2023

Establishing a rotation and divvying minutes were the least of Cronin’s concerns.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 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