Dictionary Definition
allow
Verb
1 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" [syn: let, permit] [ant: prevent]
2 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" [syn: permit, let, countenance] [ant: forbid, forbid]
3 let have; "grant permission"; "Mandela was
allowed few visitors in prison" [syn: grant] [ant: deny]
4 give or assign a share of money or time to a
particular person or cause; "I will earmark this money for your
research" [syn: appropriate, earmark, set aside,
reserve]
5 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" [syn: leave, allow for,
provide]
6 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" [syn: take into
account]
7 afford possibility; "This problem admits of no
solution"; "This short story allows of several different
interpretations" [syn: admit]
8 allow the other (baseball) team to score; "give
up a run" [syn: give up]
9 grant as a discount or in exchange; "The camera
store owner allowed me $50 on my old camera"
10 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" [syn: permit, tolerate]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From allouen, from alouer , from Medieval allaudāre, "to praise", (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre, "to assign".Pronunciation
- /əˈlaʊ/, /@"laU/
- Rhymes: -aʊ
Verb
- 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.
- He was allowed about three hundred pounds a year. —Macaulay.
- To allow a free passage
- To allow a servant his liberty
- 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.
- I allow, with Mrs. Grundy and most moralists, that Miss Newcome's conduct . . . was highly reprehensible. —Thackeray.
- To allow a right; to allow a claim; to allow the truth of a
proposition.
- To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; esp. to
abate or deduct;
- To allow a sum for leakage.
- To grant license to; to permit; to consent to.
- To allow a son to be absent
- Smoking allowed only in designated areas.
- To allow a son to be absent
- To let something happen, to admit; to concede;
- To take into account by making an allowance.
- When calculating a budget for a construction project, always allow for contingencies.
Derived terms
Translations
to grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield;
to let one have
- Finnish: sallia, myöntää
- German: erlauben, zulassen
- Polish: pozwolić
to acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede;
to accede to an opinion
- Finnish: myöntää, hyväksyä
- German: akzeptieren
- Polish: przyznać
to take into account as a deduction or an
addition
- Finnish: varautua, tehdä varaus
- Polish: wziąć pod uwagę
to permit
to let something happen, to admit, to concede
to make allowance
- ttbc French: laisser °
- ttbc Hebrew: להרשות (le'harshot)
- ttbc Interlingua: lassar °
- ttbc Italian: lasciare °
- ttbc Portuguese: permitir °, deixar °
- ttbc Spanish: dejar permitir
References
- Webster 1913
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
OK,
abate, accede, accept, accord, account, acknowledge, acquiesce, add, adjudge, adjudicate, administer, admit, admit everything, admit
exceptions, afford, agree
provisionally, agree to, allocate, allot, allow for, apportion, appropriate, approve, assent, assent grudgingly,
assign, authorize, avow, award, bate, be judicious, bestow, bestow on, brook, budget, charge off, come clean,
communicate,
concede, confer, confess, consent, consent to, consider, consider the
circumstances, consider the source, cop a plea, count, countenance, cut, deal, deal out, deduct, deem, defer, depreciate, discount, dish out, dispense, disregard, dole, dole out, donate, earmark, endure, entertain, esteem, exercise judgment,
express an opinion, express general agreement, extend, fork out, form an
opinion, gift, gift with,
give, give freely, give
leave, give out, give permission, give the go-ahead, give the word,
go along with, grant, hand
out, have, heap, help to, hold, impart, issue, judge, kick back, lavish, leave, let, let have, let on, lift
temporarily, lot, make
allowance, make allowance for, make possible, mete, mete out, not oppose,
offer, okay, open up, out with it,
own, own up, permit, pine, plead guilty, pour, present, presume, proffer, provide for, put aside,
put up with, rain, rebate, recognize, reduce, refund, regard, relax, relax the condition,
release, render, sanction, say the word,
serve, set apart, set
aside, shell out, shower,
slip, snow, spill, spill it, spit it out,
stand, stand for, submit, suffer, suppose, take a premium, take
account of, take into account, take into consideration, take off,
tell all, tell the truth, tender, think of, tolerate, vouchsafe, waive, warrant, write off, yield