earmarking

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

   Synonyms:

   allot, appropriate, allocate, shelve, assign, dedicate, detach, designate, preselect, put aside

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.
   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.

See all 10 meanings of earmark