divvy

verb

div·​vy ˈdi-vē How to pronounce divvy (audio)
divvied; divvying; divvies

transitive verb

: divide, share
divvy a pie
Between now and then, managing the divestiture will eat up much of Allen's time—he must divvy tens of billions of dollars in assets …David Kirkpatrick
Instead of divvying the spoils of a $12-$18 CD sale, labels, artists and songwriters are vying for nickels and dimes from 99 cent downloads.Brian Garrity
usually used with up
We divvied up the chores.
Money is easier to divvy up than property, …Susan E. Kuhn
When the time comes to divvy up the school funding pie, maintenance departments wait patiently in line for their slice of resources.Mike Kennedy
Early evidence suggests there has been a significant shift in how fiscal responsibilities are divvied up among the federal government, and state and local governments.Grant A. Driessen and Joseph S. Hughes

Examples of divvy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The idea of equitable distribution is, in turn, meant to grant flexibility in how things are divvied up; the division is supposed to be fair but not necessarily equal. Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024 This has bought states more time to figure out how to divvy up the river after 2026, when the current operating guidelines expire. Ella Nilsen, CNN, 6 Mar. 2024 Super Tuesday arrived with voters in 15 states heading to the polls to determine how more than 800 Republican delegates would be divvied up between former president Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations. Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024 If talking doesn’t work, and legal agreements force you to work together, divvy up different areas and be accountable for each other. Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 14 Feb. 2024 Prosecutors say Alexander used her access to the Day Center’s mail room to steal mail and divvy up the checks with her then-boyfriend. City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Feb. 2024 Those looking to divvy up Americans by race, that is. William McGurn, WSJ, 1 Jan. 2024 Some states divvy up delegates according to a candidate's vote share. Ashley Lopez, NPR, 24 Feb. 2024 But many questions, for now, remain open for what can be seen as the Hulu of the sports world, including the pricing of the joint streamer, whether other media players could join and how the financials will exactly be divvied up. Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'divvy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

by shortening & alteration from divide

First Known Use

1877, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of divvy was in 1877

Dictionary Entries Near divvy

Cite this Entry

“Divvy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divvy. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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