Definitions for allow
əˈlaʊal·low

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. let, allow, permitverb

   make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen

   "This permits the water to rush in"; "This sealed door won't allow the water come into the basement"; "This will permit the rain to run off"

2. permit, allow, let, countenanceverb

   consent to, give permission

   "She permitted her son to visit her estranged husband"; "I won't let the police search her basement"; "I cannot allow you to see your exam"

3. allow, grantverb

   let have

   "grant permission"; "Mandela was allowed few visitors in prison"

4. allow, appropriate, earmark, set aside, reserveverb

   give or assign a resource to a particular person or cause

   "I will earmark this money for your research"; "She sets aside time for meditation every day"

5. leave, allow for, allow, provideverb

   make a possibility or provide opportunity for; permit to be attainable or cause to remain

   "This leaves no room for improvement"; "The evidence allows only one conclusion"; "allow for mistakes"; "leave lots of time for the trip"; "This procedure provides for lots of leeway"

6. allow, take into accountverb

   allow or plan for a certain possibility; concede the truth or validity of something

   "I allow for this possibility"; "The seamstress planned for 5% shrinkage after the first wash"

7. admit, allowverb

   afford possibility

   "This problem admits of no solution"; "This short story allows of several different interpretations"

8. give up, allowverb

   allow the other (baseball) team to score

   "give up a run"

9. allowverb

   grant as a discount or in exchange

   "The camera store owner allowed me $50 on my old camera"

10. allow, permit, tolerateverb

    allow the presence of or allow (an activity) without opposing or prohibiting

    "We don't allow dogs here"; "Children are not permitted beyond this point"; "We cannot tolerate smoking in the hospital"

Wiktionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. allowverb

   To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have.

   Etymology: From allouen, from alouer , from Medieval allaudāre, (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre.

2. allowverb

   To acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion.

   Etymology: From allouen, from alouer , from Medieval allaudāre, (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre.

3. allowverb

   To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct;

   To allow a sum for leakage.

   Etymology: From allouen, from alouer , from Medieval allaudāre, (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre.

4. allowverb

   To grant license to; to permit; to consent to.

   Etymology: From allouen, from alouer , from Medieval allaudāre, (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre.

5. allowverb

   To not bar or obstruct.

   Although I don't consent to their holding such meetings, I will allow them for the time being.

   Etymology: From allouen, from alouer , from Medieval allaudāre, (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre.

6. allowverb

   To acknowledge or concede.

   Etymology: From allouen, from alouer , from Medieval allaudāre, (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre.

7. allowverb

   To take into account by making an allowance.

   When calculating a budget for a construction project, always allow for contingencies.

   Etymology: From allouen, from alouer , from Medieval allaudāre, (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre.

8. allowverb

   To render physically possible

   Etymology: From allouen, from alouer , from Medieval allaudāre, (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Allowverb

   to praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction

2. Allowverb

   to like; to be suited or pleased with

3. Allowverb

   to sanction; to invest; to intrust

4. Allowverb

   to grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have; as, to allow a servant his liberty; to allow a free passage; to allow one day for rest

5. Allowverb

   to own or acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion; as, to allow a right; to allow a claim; to allow the truth of a proposition

6. Allowverb

   to grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; esp. to abate or deduct; as, to allow a sum for leakage

7. Allowverb

   to grant license to; to permit; to consent to; as, to allow a son to be absent

8. Allowverb

   to admit; to concede; to make allowance or abatement

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Allow

   al-low′, v.t. to grant: to permit: to acknowledge: to abate: make allowance for: (obs.) invest, entrust: assert, say (coll. in U.S.).—adj. Allow′able, that may be allowed: not forbidden: lawful.—n. Allow′ableness.—adv. Allow′ably.—n. Allow′ance, that which is allowed: a limited portion of anything: a stated quantity—of money, &c., to meet expenses: abatement: approbation: permission.—v.t. to put any one upon an allowance: to supply anything in limited quantities.—To make allowance for, to take excusing circumstances into account. [O. Fr. alouer, to grant—L. ad, to, and locāre, to place.—Allow, in the sense of approve or sanction, as used in B. and by old writers, has its root in L. allaudāre—ad-, and laudāre, to praise.]

Editors Contribution(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. allow

   To give permission to.

   Time did allow for their love to connect and for them to marry before the date they choose as they knew they were both so right for each other.

   Submitted by MaryC on February 15, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Discount
   • Give

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'allow' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #854

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'allow' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1328

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'allow' in Verbs Frequency: #59

How to pronounce allow?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say allow in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of allow in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of allow in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of allow in a Sentence

1. Kris Jenner:

   Those are the ones I'm concerned with and the only ones I don't -- I can't allow, I can't let myself hurt them.

2. Billy Green:

   It saves lives of not only victims and police officers and in the unfortunate situation where we did have to use lethal force or some type of force that resulted in injury, it would allow us to provide that emergency medical treatment.

3. Isaac Asimov:

   One, a robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm Two, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law Three, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

4. Carrie Horstman:

   The Sheriff’s Office says the effort will allow residents to feel the shelters are safe and spur more turnout.

5. Nathalie Loiseau:

   We respect the British. We ask them to allow us to go forward on our own path, and in the meantime we ask Britain not to export its political crisis over to the European Union.

Images & Illustrations of allow

Popularity rank by frequency of use