earmark.
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.
Meaning & usage
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.
A distinguishing or identifying mark or sign; specifically (archaic), a mark of ownership.
An act of designating certain funds to be used for a specific purpose.
Specifically, a designation by the Congress that certain federal funds be appropriated for a specific project.
Where this word comes from
The noun is derived from ear + mark. The verb is derived from the noun.
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.
To put a distinguishing or identifying mark or sign on (something); to make (something) distinctive or identifiable.
To designate or set aside (someone or something) for a particular purpose; to allocate.
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.
Chiefly followed by for: to designate (certain funds) to be used for a specific purpose. To designate (part of a pension) to be payable to the holder's former spouse or payment when the pension is paid.
Chiefly followed by for: to designate (certain funds) to be used for a specific purpose. Of the Congress: to designate that certain federal funds be appropriated for a specific project.
Where this word comes from
The noun is derived from ear + mark. The verb is derived from the noun.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.