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Glite Dictionary
block grant

block grant

30 4.0
Money given by a national government to local governments for a general purpose with few rules
  • noun
  • /blɑk ɡrænt/
  • Formal
translation icon : subvención global
  • TANF also created a block grant to support childcare for low-income families.
  • Medicaid block grants
  • federal block grants
  • TANF block grant

New Federalism's block grants gave states broad discretion over social spending.

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Examples

  • The 1996 law is a block grant that affords states great flexibility.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Sixty percent of the children are funded through a block grant from social services, and 40% are tuition-paying.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Failure to comply with these and other work requirements means that a state's block grant will be reduced.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The federal government would simply provide block grants of money to help them do it.

    Blog text (25)

  • Federal block grants are now provided to each state, which determines how the money is spent.

    Academic text (1999)

  • New Federalism's block grants gave states broad discretion over social spending.

    Harvard University

  • In 1986, social service block grants accounted for 19 percent of central transfers to local governments.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The move to block grants made social transfers more sustainable and predictable.

    Academic text (2017)

  • States must compete for federal block grants by completing a lengthy application detailing conformity to Department of Education parameters.

    Academic text (2013)

  • The government announced that it will allocate block grants to help local authorities improve infrastructure.

Synonyms

funding
vsblock grant
670 2.6

Money that an organization or government gives for a project

is a central payment for broad regional use with few restrictions
grant
vsblock grant
324 3.5

Money given by a government or group for a specific purpose without payback

is meant for broad local or regional use with few restrictions

How Much

endowment
  • Formal
67 6.5
block grant
  • Formal
30 4.0
funding
670 2.6
grant-in-aid
  • Specialized
1 5.8
to microloan
  • Specialized
4.1

Surface Forms

block grant singular
block grants plural

Morphology

block + grant

The word 'grant' clearly signals money, and 'block' can suggest a single chunk or grouped unit, so a learner might infer this is a lump-sum or grouped type of funding. However, the specific policy sense — funding allocated for broad purposes with few restrictions — is an institutional/administrative nuance not directly derivable from the concrete noun 'block', so a B1 learner would likely need prior exposure to fully grasp the meaning.

Etymology

Block grant comes from the idea of giving one big block of money as a grant to a local government, instead of many small, separate payments. That's why it now means money given for a 'broad purpose' with 'few restrictions'.