ear·mark | \ ˈir-ˌmärk 
\
\Definition of earmark
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a mark of identification on the ear of an animal
2 : a distinguishing mark
all the earmarks of poverty
3 : a provision in Congressional legislation that allocates a specified amount of money for a specific project, program, or organization
earmark
verbearmarked; earmarking; earmarks
Definition of earmark (Entry 2 of 2)
1a : to mark (livestock) with an earmark
b : to mark in a distinguishing manner
2 : to designate (something, such as funds) for a specific use or owner
money earmarked for education
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Examples of earmark in a Sentence
Verb
The project uses funds that had been earmarked for education.
the earnings from my second job have been earmarked for a down payment on a car
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun In response, the House reformed its rules to require that the sponsor of every earmark must be made public.
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Ledyard King, USA TODAY, "A bridge to nowhere, anyone? Congress weighs return of earmarks to ease gridlock in 2021," 8 Dec. 2020 The story has all the earmarks of a conspiracy theory.
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Los Angeles Times, "Was the coronavirus made in a Wuhan lab? Here’s what the genetic evidence shows," 9 May 2020 But even accounting for those earmarks, at $600m per quarter in net spending, Farragou thinks Tesla can operate for 15 months without further investment.
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David Z. Morris, Fortune, "How will Tesla weather the coronavirus storm? Quite nicely, analysts predict," 24 Mar. 2020 That would mean the funding that legislators had hoped to put toward the various programs and earmarks would instead go into the state’s emergency savings account.
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BostonGlobe.com, "For weeks, legislative leaders have been unable to reach a compromise to close the books on last fiscal year, leaving a relatively routine spending bill and a $1.1 billion surplus that it is built on to languish.," 1 Dec. 2019 Police on Saturday arrested more than a dozen of the city’s most prominent proponents of democracy on what has all the earmarks of orders from Beijing.
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The Editorial Board, WSJ, "China’s Hong Kong Roundup," 19 Apr. 2020 The 10 winners of that phase each got $20,000—with no stipulations or earmarks, just cold cash.
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Sarah Scoles, Wired, "The Search for the Next Big Idea in Magnetic Field Mapping," 31 Mar. 2020 The sector is lobbying for earmarks in the current federal rescue package.
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Adrian Ellis, WSJ, "Not a Pretty Picture," 24 Mar. 2020 Tesla responded by arguing that its earmarks for lease maintenance was in line with accounting standards.
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David Z. Morris, Fortune, "Tesla skimps on warranty costs to inflate its profits, critics allege," 4 Mar. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb More than 125 economists last month signed an open letter urging lawmakers to earmark for money for stimulus checks.
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Aimee Picchi, CBS News, "Hopes dimming for another round of stimulus checks in 2020," 9 Dec. 2020 That left about $90 million for the City Council to earmark towards community needs.
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Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, "Garcetti vetoes plan to use reallocated LAPD money for disadvantaged communities," 22 Dec. 2020 Henderson said the state should embrace alternatives — such as having regional medical centers not vaccinate lower-risk staff, and instead earmark some doses for the frontline rural doctors and nurses.
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NBC News, "Texas doctors in rural hotspots left out in cold on vaccine," 18 Dec. 2020 More than 125 economists last month signed an open letter urging lawmakers to earmark for money for stimulus checks.
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Aimee Picchi, CBS News, "Hopes dimming for another round of stimulus checks in 2020," 9 Dec. 2020 More than 125 economists last month signed an open letter urging lawmakers to earmark for money for stimulus checks.
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Aimee Picchi, CBS News, "Hopes dimming for another round of stimulus checks in 2020," 9 Dec. 2020 More than 125 economists last month signed an open letter urging lawmakers to earmark for money for stimulus checks.
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Aimee Picchi, CBS News, "Hopes dimming for another round of stimulus checks in 2020," 9 Dec. 2020 More than 125 economists last month signed an open letter urging lawmakers to earmark for money for stimulus checks.
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Aimee Picchi, CBS News, "Will you get a stimulus check by December 31?," 6 Dec. 2020 However, the commission wants to earmark $25,000 to hire a consultant to work with the new task force on vetting art pieces and reviewing costs and locations before more art is commissioned by the Century Walk.
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Suzanne Baker, chicagotribune.com, "SECA says Naperville council should reject $94K for new Century Walk art until task force panel review," 4 Dec. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'earmark.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for earmark
earmark
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of earmark
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a mark or quality that shows what something is or what it could be
earmark
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of earmark (Entry 2 of 2)
: to say that something will be used or treated in a specified way
: to put (money) aside for a special purpose
See the full definition for earmark in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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Time Traveler for earmark
The first known use of earmark was in the 15th century
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