Definition of "allow"

allow

/əˈlaʊ/

verb
third-person singular simple present allows, present participle allowing, simple past and past participle allowed
1. (ditransitive) To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have.
  Quotations
  […] 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.
  2004 , Constance, transl. Garnett, “Ariadne”, in The Darling: and Other Stories, translation of original by Anton Chekhov
2. (transitive) To enable; to permit; to grant license to; to consent to.
  Quotations
  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 […]
  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, page vii
3. To not bar or obstruct.
  Quotations
  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.
  2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26
4. (transitive) To acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion.
  Quotations
  Mr. Knightley, I shall not allow you to be a fair judge in this case.
  1815, Jane Austen, chapter 5, in Emma, volume 1
  I allow, with Mrs. Grundy and most moralists, that Miss Newcome's conduct […] was highly reprehensible.
  1855, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Newcomes
  Half the night passed before the wench allowed that it might be safe to stop.
  2000, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, A Storm of Swords, Bantam, published 2011, page 154
5. (transitive) To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct.
6. (transitive) To take into account by making an allowance.
7. (transitive) To render physically possible.
  Quotations
  The inlet allowed a facility to bring the money in a boat secretly and at night to the very foot of the hill.
  1824, Washington Irving, “The Devil and Tom Walker”, in Tales of a Traveller
  A “moving platform” scheme […] is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.
  2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly)
8. (transitive, obsolete) To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.
  Quotations
  Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Luke 11:48
  We commend his pains, condemn his pride, allow his life, approve his learning.
  1842, Thomas Fuller, Church History of Britain
9. (obsolete) To sanction; to invest; to entrust.
  Quotations
  Therefore so please thee to return with us,And of our Athens—thine and ours—to takeThe captainship, thou shalt be met with thanks,Allow'd with absolute power, and thy good nameLive with authority. So soon we shall drive backOf Alcibiades the approaches wild,Who, like a boar too savage, doth root upHis country's peace.
  1623, William Shakespeare, The Life of Timon of Athens
10. (transitive, obsolete) To like; to be suited or pleased with.
  Quotations
  How allow you the model of these clothes?
  1632, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, The Fatal Dowry‎, act 4, scene 1
11. (law, transitive) To decide (a request) in favour of the party who raised it; to grant victory to a party regarding (a request).
12. (transitive, MTE, MLE) To forgo bothering with, to let slide.
  Quotations
  Easy on violence, now I doubt itI could’ve banged this face but allowed it
  2021 November 3, “Who's My man?”, Starzzy #MostHated (lyrics), 0:30

Definition of "allow"

allow

verb

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