pork barrel

American  

noun

Informal.

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

---

pork barrel British  

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

---

pork barrel Idioms  

1. 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]

---

Other Word Forms

• pork-barrel adjective
• pork-barreling adjective

Etymology

Origin of pork barrel

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Example Sentences

No member brought home more money than former Senator Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, who retired this year as one of the last big pork barrel legends.

From New York Times

Opening the pork barrel tap has also helped.

From Reuters

“And all we really got was ... glorified pork barrel spending.”

From Los Angeles Times

The majority leader rolled a billion-dollar pork barrel in government spending and tax breaks back to his Kentucky home in 2019.

From Salon

House of Representatives and Senate, where he became known as “Dr. No” for his unyielding opposition to federal spending and pork barrel largesse, died March 28 at his home in Tulsa.

From Washington Post