pork

pork — noun

1. pig meat prepared for cooking and eating, including fresh cuts and salted ones

1.nounB1
Definition

pig meat prepared for cooking and eating, including fresh cuts and salted ones

Example

Dad grilled pork chops while Mina washed the salad leaves.

collocation: pork chops

The soup had noodles, cabbage, and thin slices of pork.

pattern: slices of pork

Common collocations
  • pork chops
  • roast pork
  • ground pork
  • slices of pork
  • eat pork
Synonyms
  • pig meat

    an explanatory phrase rather than the usual everyday label

  • ham

    more specific, usually cured meat from a pig's leg

  • bacon

    more specific, usually thin salted slices from the pig

Grammar Patterns

eat pork

cook pork

pork chops

roast pork

Usage Note

Usually uncountable. When speakers talk about separate pieces, they often say 'a pork chop', 'a slice of pork', or name a cut. Distinguish from 'pig', which names the animal.

Common Mistakes

We had pig for dinner.
We had pork for dinner.
'pig' is the animal; 'pork' is the meat used as food.

2. public money directed to a politician's own area or supporters to help keep thei

2.nounC1
Definition

public money directed to a politician's own area or supporters to help keep their votes

Example

Reporters called the new stadium grant pork for the senator's district.

political slang: pork for a district

Voters grew angry when the bill added pork for two small towns.

Common collocations
  • cut pork
  • budget pork
  • pork for the district
  • call it pork
  • attack pork in a bill
Synonyms
  • pork-barrel spending

    the fuller political phrase; more explicit and slightly more formal

  • earmark

    a more neutral term for money set aside for a project, not always criticized

  • patronage

    broader and can include jobs or favors, not only spending

Grammar Patterns

cut pork from a bill

pork for a district

call something pork

attack pork in the budget

Usage Note

Usually uncountable and mainly heard in American political talk. It can refer to the money itself or to a local project seen as a way to reward supporters. Distinguish from sense 1, which is about food.

Common Mistakes

Free school lunches are pork.
Critics called the mayor's hometown bridge project pork.
this word is used for spending seen as a political favor, not for ordinary public services.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For food, 'pork' is the general word for meat that comes from a pig. 'Ham' is narrower: it usually means meat from the pig's leg, often cured or cooked as one piece. 'Bacon' is also narrower and usually means thin salted slices from the side or belly. 'Meat' is much broader, because it could mean beef, chicken, lamb, or many other kinds. So if you want the general animal source, say 'pork'; if you mean a specific prepared cut, say 'ham' or 'bacon'. A menu can offer roast pork, but it would list bacon and eggs or a ham sandwich when those exact foods are meant.

pork ↗ham ↗bacon ↗meat ↗

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchAnglo-NormanEnglish

English borrowed pork from Anglo-Norman and Old French porc, which came from Latin porcus, meaning 'pig'. After the Norman period, English often kept the older English animal name 'pig' but used the French-based word 'pork' for the meat served as food.