Word.ws English Dictionary

earmark

Syllables: ear·markUK/ˈɪəmɑːk//ˈɪ(ə)ɹˌmɑɹk/

earmark noun: a mark made or tag attached to the ear of an animal (chiefly a livestock animal), generally to identify or indicate something about the animal, such as ownership, health or gestation status, etc.

earmark: a mark made or tag attached to the ear of an animal (chiefly a livestock animal), generally to...
Image: Johan Doe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

earmark (plural earmarks)

  1. A mark made or tag attached to the ear of an animal (chiefly a livestock animal), generally to identify or indicate something about the animal, such as ownership, health or gestation status, etc.
    • Some mark them [sheep] vvith Raddle and make Ear-marks.1725, [Noël] Chomel, “MARKING OF SHEEP”, in R[ichard] Bradley, editor, Dictionaire Oeconomique: Or, The Family Dictionary. […], volume II (I–Z), London: […] D[aniel] Midwinter, […], →OCLC, signature...
    Synonyms:
    lugmark
  2. (figuratively) A distinguishing or identifying mark or sign; specifically (archaic), a mark of ownership.
    • [H]e ſhoulde be dyſcryued by hys rounding and his eare marke: […]1551, Thomas More, “The Fyrste Boke of the Communycacion of Raphaell Hythlodaye Concernynge the Best State of a Commen Wealthe”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and...
    • Mr. Bayes, many as proper a man as your ſelf march'd up Holborn for diſtinguiſhing betvvixt the VVealth and the Fanatick: and moreover let me tell you, Fanatick Money hath no Ear-mark.1672, [Andrew Marvell], The Rehearsal Transpros’d: Or, Animadversions upon a Late Book, Entituled, A Preface, Shewing what Grounds there are of Fears and Jealousies of Popery, London: [s.n.], →OCLC...
  3. (figuratively) An act of designating certain funds to be used for a specific purpose.
  4. (US, figuratively) Specifically, a designation by the Congress that certain federal funds be appropriated for a specific project.

Verb

earmark (third-person singular simple present earmarks, present participle earmarking, simple past and past participle earmarked)

  1. (transitive) To make a mark or attach a tag to the ear of (an animal, chiefly a livestock animal), generally to identify or indicate something about the animal, such as ownership.
  2. (figuratively, transitive) To put a distinguishing or identifying mark or sign on (something); to make (something) distinctive or identifiable.
  3. (figuratively, transitive) To designate or set aside (someone or something) for a particular purpose; to allocate.
    • In barely a decade, the War on Drugs went from being a political slogan to an actual war. Now that police departments were suddenly flush with cash and military equipment earmarked for the drug war, they needed to make use of their new resources.2012, Michelle Alexander, “The Lockdown”, in The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: The New Press, →ISBN, page 74
    • But even I draw the line at "doing crunches" in designer clothes. Fashion sneakers are for swanking around the shops, not for running in. And so, like everyone else, I wear grotty old tracksuits earmarked for Oxfam, and tragic free festival T-shirts that give away my age.2017 November 16, Jo Ellison, “Help: The gym has turned us into slobs”, in Financial Times, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Nov 2017
  4. (figuratively, transitive) Chiefly followed by for: to designate (certain funds) to be used for a specific purpose.
    • You can donate to the organization as a whole, or you can earmark your contribution for a particular project.
    • A widening of the M4 had long been mooted, and the Welsh Government had even earmarked most of the required £1.6bn funding for a new 14-mile, six-lane section around Newport. Then, in the face of opposition from environmentalists, came a realisation that similar road schemes across the world tend...2020 December 2, Christian Wolmar, “Wales Offers Us a Glimpse of an Integrated Transport Policy”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 56
    1. (UK, figuratively, transitive) To designate (part of a pension) to be payable to the holder's former spouse or payment when the pension is paid.
    2. (US, figuratively, transitive) Of the Congress: to designate that certain federal funds be appropriated for a specific project.

earmark meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada

earmark in Tamil

குறிப்பிட்ட நோக்கத்துக்காக ஒதுக்கிவை, அடையாளக் குறி, குறிப்பிட்ட ஒதுக்கீடு, குறிப்பிட்ட ஓதுக்கீடு வரைந்து வைத்தல், குறிப்பிட்டொதுக்கு, காதுக்குறி

earmark in Bengali

নির্ধারিত করা

earmark in Malayalam

തിരിച്ചറിയാനുളള അടയാളം

earmark in Kannada

ನಿಗದಿಮಾಡು, ಸಿದ್ಧಪಡಿಸು, ತೆಗೆದಿಡು, ಮೀಸಲಿಡು, ಮುಡಿಪುಕಟ್ಟು, ಗುರುತಿಸು
More languagesFewer languages
earmark in Indonesian
tengas, menengas

Examples of earmark in a sentence

  • But as money has no earmark, it cannot be diſtinguiſhed.1743 February 21 (date decided; Gregorian calendar), [John] Willes, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, “Jonathan Scott and Francis...
  • I am inclined to think that his most besetting sin in style,—the little earmark by which he is most conspicuous,—is a certain affected familiarity.1879, Anthony Trollope, “Thackeray’s Style and Manner of Work”, in John Morley, editor, Thackeray (English Men of Letters; 10), London...
  • A widening of the M4 had long been mooted, and the Welsh Government had even earmarked most of the required £1.6bn funding for a new 14-mile, six-lane section around Newport.2020 December 2, Christian Wolmar, “Wales Offers Us a Glimpse of an Integrated Transport Policy”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire...

All 18 example sentences with earmark

Synonyms of earmark

8 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of earmark

Forms of earmark

Noun
pluralearmarks
Verb
third-person singular presentearmarks
present participleearmarking
past participleearmarked
pastearmarked

Origin of earmark

The noun is derived from ear + mark. The verb is derived from the noun.

Words formed from earmark

Questions about earmark

What does earmark mean?
Earmark means a mark made or tag attached to the ear of an animal (chiefly a livestock animal), generally to identify or indicate something about the animal, such as ownership, health or gestation status, etc.
What is earmark in Tamil?
Earmark in Tamil is குறிப்பிட்ட நோக்கத்துக்காக ஒதுக்கிவை, அடையாளக் குறி, குறிப்பிட்ட ஒதுக்கீடு. See Earmark meaning in Tamil.
How do you use earmark in a sentence?
But as money has no earmark, it cannot be diſtinguiſhed.
What part of speech is earmark?
Earmark can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce earmark?
Earmark is pronounced /ˈɪəmɑːk/ (UK).
What is the plural of earmark?
The plural of earmark is earmarks.

Words near earmark in the dictionary

  1. Earlys
  2. Earlywine
  3. Earlywines
  4. earlywood
  5. earlywoods
  6. earmark
  7. earmarkable
  8. earmarked
  9. earmarker
  10. earmarkers
  11. earmarking

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: earmark (page history and authors); earmark (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); earmark (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); earmark (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); earmark (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-earmark.ogg.

Cite this entry: “earmark.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/earmark. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.