from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Allow \Al*low"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Allowed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Allowing}.] [OE. alouen, OF. alouer, aloer, aluer, F.
allouer, fr. LL. allocare to admit as proved, to place, use;
confused with OF. aloer, fr. L. allaudare to extol; ad +
laudare to praise. See {Local}, and cf. {Allocate}, {Laud}.]
1. To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction. [Obs. or
Archaic]
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Ye allow the deeds of your fathers. --Luke xi. 48.
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We commend his pains, condemn his pride, allow his
life, approve his learning. --Fuller.
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2. To like; to be suited or pleased with. [Obs.]
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How allow you the model of these clothes?
--Massinger.
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3. To sanction; to invest; to intrust. [Obs.]
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Thou shalt be . . . allowed with absolute power.
--Shak.
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4. To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let
one have; as, to allow a servant his liberty; to allow a
free passage; to allow one day for rest.
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He was allowed about three hundred pounds a year.
--Macaulay.
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5. To own or acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to
accede to an opinion; as, to allow a right; to allow a
claim; to allow the truth of a proposition.
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I allow, with Mrs. Grundy and most moralists, that
Miss Newcome's conduct . . . was highly
reprehensible. --Thackeray.
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6. To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; esp.
to abate or deduct; as, to allow a sum for leakage.
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7. To grant license to; to permit; to consent to; as, to
allow a son to be absent.
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Syn: To allot; assign; bestow; concede; admit; permit;
suffer; tolerate. See {Permit}.
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