earmark
Americannoun
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any identifying or distinguishing mark or characteristic.
The mayor's statement had all the earmarks of dirty politics.
-
a mark of identification made on the ear of an animal to show ownership.
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a provision in a piece of Congressional legislation that directs specified federal funds to specific projects, programs, organizations, or individuals.
Lawmakers requested almost 40,000 earmarks worth more than $100 billion directed to their home districts and states.
verb (used with object)
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earmarks,
present (3rd person singular)
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earmarked,
past participle, past
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earmarking
present participle
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to set aside for a specific purpose, use, recipient, etc..
to earmark goods for export.
-
to mark with an earmark.
verb
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to set aside or mark out for a specific purpose
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to make an identification mark on the ear of (a domestic animal)
noun
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a mark of identification on the ear of a domestic animal
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any distinguishing mark or characteristic
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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earmarksimple
-
earmarkssimple
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have earmarkedperfect
-
has earmarkedperfect
-
am earmarkingprogressive
-
are earmarkingprogressive
-
is earmarkingprogressive
-
have been earmarkingperfect progressive
-
has been earmarkingperfect progressive
Past
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earmarkedsimple
-
had earmarkedperfect
-
was earmarkingprogressive
-
were earmarkingprogressive
-
had been earmarkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of earmark
Explanation
To earmark something is to set it aside for a specific purpose. If you’re saving money to spend it in a particular way — whether it’s for college or a fancy new pair of shoes — you have earmarked that money. Originally, an earmark was a mark on the ear of an animal — such as a sheep — that indicated ownership. Similarly, when government officials earmark a resource, they're indicating what the resource will be used for. Earmarking is usually about money. $10,000 could be earmarked for cancer research. A grant could be earmarked for a children's hospital. Earmarking is a way of stating how something will be used.
Vocabulary lists containing earmark
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In his essay, he referenced a local sales-tax earmark that led to teachers in Richland Parish, La., receiving $50,000 bonus checks funded by increased economic activity near the company’s Hyperion data-center campus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
This source was advising a Maine foundation on how to request an earmark.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
Tucked in a $10 billion climate bond on the November ballot is an earmark to improve drinking water quality for communities such as East Orosi.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2024
Calvert said he meets annually with cities across his district and encourages government agencies to submit earmark applications.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2024
Anderson used his power to earmark municipal funds to clean up the Black Belt’s crumbling sewers and streets.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
As posted on social media, the deal has the tonal earmarks of an official document.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
Could it become tricky to find votes in the Senedd for a budget if Plaid earmarks cash for that exercise?
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
NTU estimates more than $14 billion in earmarks overall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
The April 2025 sale of an IonQ system to a Chattanooga, Tenn., municipal power company, says Wolfpack, was funded two-thirds by IonQ itself, and one-third by the federal earmarks of a Tennessee congressman.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
She might have to take them on a train, and she couldn’t ride on a train with her clothing torn, it was one of the earmarks of the fugitive.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
It looked like the prospects for the bike route to the sea were getting serious after Angelenos enthusiastically passed a half-cent tax for transit projects in 2016 that earmarked $365 million for the L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Andrew has earmarked a spot nearby he hopes will give a good view across the sea.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
The makeshift settlement, long earmarked for demolition, was founded by residents evicted in Seoul's redevelopment drive ahead of the 1988 Olympic Games.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
The Pentagon on Wednesday earmarked more than $120 billion for contractors to step up production of Patriot missiles and long-delayed submarines to support future combat operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
But soon all her earnings, from clerking at Dickson’s Pharmacy to waitressing at the Eat’n Park, were earmarked for a camera, and she spent hours poring over Mr. Wilkinson’s camera catalogs and photography magazines.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Specifically, the court noted that existing disclosure laws and rules about earmarking donations already act as disincentives for donors hoping to use parties as a means to indirectly funnel money to candidates.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the legislature, with a significant budget surplus, began earmarking even more funds, leading to a peak of $1.1 billion in wildfire mitigation investments during the 2021-2022 fiscal year.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
The company, according to Reuters, is earmarking as much as 30% of shares for retail investors and scheduling a meeting with 1,500 of them at an event in June, once its IPO roadshow kicks off.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 8, 2026
The outlines of China’s push were clear even before Trump first took office, with Beijing earmarking strategic sectors such as biotechnology, robots and electric vehicles for state support.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
To conclude a separate peace with that Power is become a pressing, and would also be a feasible, task were it not that this earmarking of Constantinople for Russia constitutes an impassable barrier.
From England and Germany by William Morris Hughes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
