English

Noun

pork barrel ‎(plural pork barrels)

1. (now rare) A barrel used to store pork. [from 18th c.]
2. (chiefly US) A ready supply of income; one's livelihood. [from 19th c.]
3. (politics, chiefly US) State funds as assigned for local or regional expenditure; especially, central money used for regional projects which are eyecatching or designed to appeal to voters. [from 19th c.]
   • 2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin 2012, p. 380:

     Peacekeeping initiatives […] can dangle pork-barrel funding as an incentive to leaders who abide by the peace, enhancing their power and electoral popularity.