Allow

/əˈlaʊ/ · verb

Meaning

(ditransitive) To let one have as a suitable share of something..

Definitions by Sense

1. (ditransitive) To let one have as a suitable share of something.
2. (transitive, catenative) To permit, to give permission to.
3. To not bar or obstruct.
4. (transitive) To acknowledge, accept the truth of; to concede; to accede to an opinion; to say something one agrees on in the context of a larger disagreement or reluctance.
5. (transitive) To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct.
6. (transitive) To make an allowance, to take into account when making plans.
7. (transitive) To render physically possible.
8. (transitive, obsolete) To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.

Example Sentences

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

[…] 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.

I will allow my son to be absent.

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[…]

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

Smoking (is) allowed only in designated areas.

The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.

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

Synonyms for allow

Antonyms for allow

Related Words

Word Forms

• allows
• allowing
• allowed
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• allow
• allowest
• allowedst
• alloweth
• -

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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