slush fundn.
Originally and chiefly U.S.
a. In the Navy: money collected from the sale of slush, etc., and used to buy luxuries for the crew. Also, a similar fund in the Army.
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society > trade and finance > money > funds or pecuniary resources > [noun] > set apart for a purpose > for or subscribed by several parties
the common pursea1400
common1540
purse1602
stock-pursea1665
subscription1730
slush fund1839
kitty1887
tarpaulin muster1889
tronc1928
International Monetary Fund1944
1839 W. McNally Evils & Abuses Naval & Merchant Service xvii. 162 The sailors in the navy are allowed salt beef... From this provision, when cooked..nearly all the fat boils off; this is carefully skimmed..and put into empty beef or pork barrels, and sold, and the money so received is called the slush fund.
1884 Naval Encycl. 759/2 Slush-fund, money obtained from the sale of slush. It is to be used for premiums for target firing, etc., and not for ship's purposes.
1963 T. Pynchon V. i. 14 Pappy ended up borrowing 500 for 700 from Mac the cook's slush fund.
b. transferred. A fund used to supplement the salaries of government employees; a fund used to bribe, or influence the action of, a person or group of persons, spec. for political ends; a fund used to support a favoured political candidate.
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society > trade and finance > money > funds or pecuniary resources > [noun] > set apart for a purpose > for other purposes
alms purse1530
privy purse1565
sinking fund1717
stakea1744
pension fund1757
spare-chest1769
road fund1784
revolving fund1793
community chest1796
provident fund1817
sustentation fund1837
wages-fund1848
slush fund1874
treasury chest fund1877
fall money1883
jackpot1884
provision1895
war chest1901
juice1935
fighting fund1940
structural fund1967
appeal fund1976
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [noun] > bribe > bribery > slush-money or slush fund
slush-money1842
slush fund1874
1874 Congress. Rec. 17 Apr. 3166/1 We have had this ‘slush-fund’ since 1866... It was divided among these officers to increase their salaries.
1894 Congress. Rec. 16 Jan. 904/1 [Cleveland] was not elected in 1888..because of pious John Wanamaker and his $400,000 of campaign slush funds.
1920 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 164 His ‘slush fund’ was smaller in amount.
1924 Glasgow Herald 16 Feb. 10 A huge fund alleged to have been deposited in a Washington bank to the credit of a widely-known citizen very intimate with men prominent in public life... The name given to the mysterious fund is the ‘slush fund’... ‘Slush’, in the American acceptance of the word, means illicit commission, bribery, corruption, and graft.
1929 C. E. Merriam Chicago 220 Patronage and spoils and slush funds unlimited.
1931 Economist 10 Oct. 658/1 How candidate-deputies will react against this suppression of what has usually, in the past, been regarded as an electoral ‘slush’ fund remains to be seen.
1932 Dict. Amer. Biogr. VIII. 257 Part of the enormous slush fund connected with the oil-lease transactions.
1962 Guardian 15 Mar. 9/6 Eisenhower's running mate was accused of being the beneficiary of a ‘slush fund’ subscribed by wealthy backers.
1977 Whitaker's Almanack 567/2 The Prime Minister on May 23 commissioned Mr. Dell, the Trade Secretary, to review Government policy and commercial practices in the light of the ‘slush fund’ allegations.
1980 Washington Post 1 Feb. a1/1 The company had a secret $600,000 slush fund for entertaining Pentagon officials.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
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n.1839