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# earmark

verb (earmark, earmarks, earmarked, earmarking); noun (an earmark, earmarks)

«earmark» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (verb) To set money or something aside for a special purpose: The money is earmarked for a new playground. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earmark/#m1)
2. (noun) A mark cut or tagged on a farm animal's ear to show who owns it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earmark/#m2)
3. (noun) A sign or feature that shows what something is: It has all the earmarks of a good book. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earmark/#m3)

### In the lessons

In money problems «earmarked» money is kept for one purpose and cannot be spent on anything else; on farms sheep and cattle have earmarks. Phrases: «earmarked for», «have all the earmarks of».

### Examples

- The school earmarked $500 for new books. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earmark/#x1)
- This field is earmarked for a new park. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earmark/#x2)
- The farmer checked the sheep's earmarks. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earmark/#x3)
- The plan has all the earmarks of success. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earmark/#x4)
- We earmarked Saturday for cleaning the garage. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earmark/#x5)
- Of $100, $30 is earmarked for food, so $70 is left for other things. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earmark/#x6)

### Note

Regular verb. Formal-ish; casual speech says «set aside» or «put by». In maths, earmarked money must be subtracted from the total before you work out what is free to spend.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «earmark» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earmark/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«earmark» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/earmark.html) on Mova free.