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Allow Definition

allow

Contents

English

Etymology

From Middle English allouen, from Old French alouer , from Medieval Latin allaudāre (“to praise”), (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre (“to assign”).

Pronunciation

Verb

allow (third-person singular simple present allows, present participle allowing, simple past and past participle allowed)

  1. (transitive) To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have.
    To allow a servant his liberty
    To allow a free passage
    To allow one day for rest.
    • 1895, Anton Chekhov, translated by Constance Garnett - Ariadne
      ...he needed a great deal of money, but his uncle only allowed him two thousand roubles a year, which was not enough, and for days together he would run about Moscow with his tongue out, as the saying is
  2. (transitive) To acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion.
    To allow a right
    To allow a claim
    To allow the truth of a proposition.
    • (Can we date this quote?) William Makepeace Thackeray.
      I allow, with Mrs. Grundy and most moralists, that Miss Newcome's conduct . . . was highly reprehensible.
  3. (transitive) To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct;
    To allow a sum for leakage.
  4. (transitive) To grant license to; to permit; to consent to.
    To allow a son to be absent
    Smoking allowed only in designated areas.
    • 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page vii
      With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]
  5. To not bar or obstruct.
    Although I don't consent to their holding such meetings, I will allow them for the time being.
  6. (intransitive) To acknowledge or concede.
    • 2000, George RR Martin, A Storm of Swords, Bantam 2011, p. 154:
      Half the night passed before the wench allowed that it might be safe to stop.
  7. (transitive) To take into account by making an allowance.
    When calculating a budget for a construction project, always allow for contingencies.
  8. (transitive) To render physically possible
    • 1824, Washington Irving, The Devil and Tom Walker
      The inlet allowed a facility to bring the money in a boat secretly and at night to the very foot of the hill.

Synonyms

Derived terms

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