phonemark
UK/ˈfəʊn.mɑːk/US/ˈfoʊnˌmɑɹk/
phonemark noun: a non-legislative designation by a telephone call from a legislator, of specific projects for funding as part of funding for more general programs.
Noun
phonemark (plural phonemarks)
- A non-legislative designation by a telephone call from a legislator, of specific projects for funding as part of funding for more general programs.
- They were earmarks by another name. The techniques employed included “lettermarks,” members writing to administrators to urge that home-based projects be funded; “phonemarks,” calling executive officials to request money for projects in their states or districts; and "soft marks." simply...2013, Walter J. Oleszek, Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process, page 61
- The current system has also allowed political interference we didn't expect. Some officials in the executive branch and others, including members of Congress, have kept the earmark tradition alive with less transparency by pressuring agencies to fund particular projects through phone calls (or...2018 January 23, James T. Walsh, Melanie Sloan, Rich Gold, Craig Holman, “The case for restoring earmarks”, in Washington Post
Verb
phonemark (third-person singular simple present phonemarks, present participle phonemarking, simple past and past participle phonemarked)
- To apply pressure on a government agency to fund a specific project as part of a more general program.
- Or worse, without earmarks the members of the spending committees can "phonemark" projects without anyone ever knowing2008 June 11, “Deseret News candidate questionnaire:”, in Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah
Forms of phonemark
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | phonemarks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | phonemarks |
| present participle | phonemarking |
| past participle | phonemarked |
| past | phonemarked |
Origin of phonemark
Blend of phone + earmark.
Questions about phonemark
- What does phonemark mean?
- Phonemark means a non-legislative designation by a telephone call from a legislator, of specific projects for funding as part of funding for more general programs.
- What part of speech is phonemark?
- Phonemark can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce phonemark?
- Phonemark is pronounced /ˈfəʊn.mɑːk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of phonemark?
- The plural of phonemark is phonemarks.
Words near phonemark in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: phonemark (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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “phonemark.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/phonemark. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.