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Allow

//əˈlaʊ// verb

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To let one have as a suitable share of something. ditransitive

    "to allow a servant his liberty; to allow a free passage; to allow one day for rest"

  2. 2
    allow or plan for a certain possibility; concede the truth or validity of something wordnet
  3. 3
    To permit, to give permission to. catenative, transitive

    "I will allow my son to be absent."

  4. 4
    give or assign a resource to a particular person or cause wordnet
  5. 5
    To not bar or obstruct.

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

Show 17 more definitions
  1. 6
    consent to, give permission; permit wordnet
  2. 7
    To acknowledge, accept the truth of; to concede; to accede to an opinion. transitive

    "to allow a right; to allow a claim; to allow an appeal"

  3. 8
    allow the presence of or allow (an activity) without opposing or prohibiting wordnet
  4. 9
    To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct. transitive

    "to allow a sum for leakage"

  5. 10
    let have wordnet
  6. 11
    To make an allowance, to take into account when making plans. transitive

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

  7. 12
    grant as a discount or in exchange wordnet
  8. 13
    To render physically possible. transitive

    "The inlet allowed a facility to bring the money in a boat secretly and at night to the very foot of the hill."

  9. 14
    make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen wordnet
  10. 15
    To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction. obsolete, transitive

    "Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers"

  11. 16
    allow the other (baseball) team to score wordnet
  12. 17
    To sanction; to invest; to entrust. obsolete

    "Therefore so please thee to return with us, And of our Athens—thine and ours—to take The captainship, thou shalt be met with thanks, Allow'd with absolute power, and thy good name Live with authority. So soon we shall drive back Of Alcibiades the approaches wild, Who, like a boar too savage, doth root up His country's peace."

  13. 18
    make a possibility or provide opportunity for; permit to be attainable or cause to remain wordnet
  14. 19
    To like; to be suited or pleased with. obsolete, transitive

    "How allow you the model of these clothes?"

  15. 20
    afford possibility wordnet
  16. 21
    To decide (a request) in favour of the party who raised it; to grant victory to a party regarding (a request). transitive

    "to allow an objection"

  17. 22
    To forgo bothering with, to let slide. Multicultural-London-English, transitive

    "Easy on violence, now I doubt it I could’ve banged this face but allowed it"

Etymology

From Middle English allowen, alowen, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman allouer, alouer, from Medieval Latin allaudāre, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocō (“to assign”). Doublet of allaud (via allaudāre) or allocate (via allocāre). The similarity with Middle English alyfen (from Old English ālīefan) and German erlauben, both from Proto-Germanic *uzlaubijaną (“to allow”) is unrelated.

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