earmark
/ˈɪ(ə)ɹˌmɑɹk/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.24 in modern English
Meaning
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.
noun
A distinguishing or identifying mark or sign; specifically (archaic), a mark of ownership.
noun
Specifically, a designation by the Congress that certain federal funds be appropriated for a specific project.
American usage
verb
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.
Transitive verb
verb
To put a distinguishing or identifying mark or sign on (something); to make (something) distinctive or identifiable.
Transitive verb
verb
To designate or set aside (someone or something) for a particular purpose; to allocate.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Some mark them [sheep] vvith Raddle and make Ear-marks."
- "[H]e ſhoulde be dyſcryued by hys rounding and his eare marke: […]"
- "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."
- "VVe are likevviſe all agreed that if the goods had remain in ſpecie unſold in the bankrupt's hands at the time of the bankruptcy, the plaintiffs might have recovered them in an action of trover, and that they could not be applied to pay the bankrupt's debts, […] [W]hy are goods conſidered ſtill as the ovvners? becauſe they remain in ſpecie, and ſo may be diſtinguiſhed from the reſt of the bankrupt's eſtate. But as money has no earmark, it cannot be diſtinguiſhed."
- "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."
- "[…] I saw in my patient one of the most forbidding men I have ever met. He had all the earmarks of a criminal."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɪ(ə)ɹˌmɑɹk/
- British English: /ˈɪəmɑːk/
Usage
- American usage
- Transitive verb
- British usage