pork barrel


noun Informal.

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

Origin of pork barrel

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

OTHER WORDS FROM pork barrel

pork-bar·rel, adjective pork-bar·rel·ing, adjective, noun

Example sentences from the Web for pork barrel

British Dictionary definitions for pork barrel

pork barrel

noun

slang, mainly US
  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

Word Origin for pork barrel

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

Idioms and Phrases with pork barrel

pork barrel

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]