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say it: uh-LOW
allow is a verb meaning "make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen". It is pronounced /əˈlaʊ/ — uh-LOW. It carries 10 recorded senses.
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”
give or assign a resource to a particular person or cause
“I will earmark this money for your research”
“She sets aside time for meditation every day”
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”
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”
afford possibility
“This problem admits of no solution”
“This short story allows of several different interpretations”
grant as a discount or in exchange
“The camera store owner allowed me $50 on my old camera”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for allow come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.