allow
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /əˈlaʊ/
Verb

allow (allows, present participle allowing; 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
  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
  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[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, 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.
  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.
  9. (transitive, obsolete) To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Luke 11:48 ↗:
      Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers
  10. (obsolete) To sanction; to invest; to entrust.
  11. (transitive, obsolete) To like; to be suited or pleased with.
Synonyms Related terms Translations Translations Translations
  • Portuguese: considerar
  • Russian: принима́ть в
Translations Translations Translations


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