View synonyms for pork barrel

pork barrel

noun

, Informal.

a government appropriation, bill, or policy that supplies funds for local improvements designed to ingratiate legislators with their constituents.

pork barrel

noun

slang.
1. a bill or project requiring considerable government spending in a locality to the benefit of the legislator's constituents
2. ( as modifier )
  pork-barrel spending

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Other Words From

pork-barrel adjective
pork-barrel·ing adjective noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of pork barrel¹

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

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Word History and Origins

Origin of pork barrel¹

C20: term originally applied to the Federal treasury considered as a source of lucrative grants

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Idioms and Phrases

Government funding of something that benefits a particular district, whose legislator thereby wins favor with local voters. For example, Our senator knows the value of the pork barrel . This expression alludes to the fatness of pork, equated with political largesse since the mid-1800s. [c. 1900]

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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