pork barrel

noun

Informal.

1. a government appropriation, bill, or policy that supplies funds for local improvements designed to ingratiate legislators with their constituents.

pork barrel

noun

1. slang

   1. a bill or project requiring considerable government spending in a locality to the benefit of the legislator's constituents

   2. ( as modifier )

      pork-barrel spending

Other Word Forms

• pork-barrel adjective
• pork-barreling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pork barrel¹

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Word History and Origins

Origin of pork barrel¹

C20: term originally applied to the Federal treasury considered as a source of lucrative grants

Idioms and Phrases

Government funding of something that benefits a particular district, whose legislator thereby wins favor with local voters. For example, Our senator knows the value of the pork barrel. This expression alludes to the fatness of pork, equated with political largesse since the mid-1800s. [c. 1900]