earmark vs watermark

earmark

noun
  • A mark for identification; a distinguishing mark. 

  • The designation of specific projects in appropriations of funding for general programs. 

  • A mark or deformation of the ear of an animal, intended to indicate ownership. 

verb
  • To mark (sheep or other animals) by slitting the ear. 

  • To specify or set aside for a particular purpose, to allocate. 

  • To designate part of a pension to be payable to the holder's former spouse or partner at its time of payment. 

watermark

noun
  • A logo superimposed on a digital image, a television broadcast, etc. 

  • A mark indicating the level to which water has risen. 

  • A translucent design impressed on the surface of paper and visible when the paper is held to the light. 

  • A value stored in a datafile to ensure its integrity, so that if the file's contents are changed then the watermark will no longer match the contents. 

verb
  • To mark paper with a watermark. 

  • To mark a datafile with a digital watermark. 

How often have the words earmark and watermark occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )