allocate

American  

[al-uh-keyt] / ˈæl əˌkeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• allocates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• allocated,
  past participle,  past
• allocating
  present participle

1. 

   to set apart for a particular purpose; assign or allot.

   to allocate funds for new projects.

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allocate British  

/ ˈæləˌkeɪt /

verb

1. to assign or allot for a particular purpose

2. a less common word for locate

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Synonym Usage

See assign.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• allocator
  noun
• deallocate
  verb (used with object)
• reallocate
  verb (used with object)
• allocatable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• allocating
  present
• allocated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• allocate
  simple
• allocates
  simple
• have allocated
  perfect
• has allocated
  perfect
• am allocating
  progressive
• are allocating
  progressive
• is allocating
  progressive
• have been allocating
  perfect progressive
• has been allocating
  perfect progressive

Past

• allocated
  simple
• had allocated
  perfect
• was allocating
  progressive
• were allocating
  progressive
• had been allocating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will allocate
  simple
• will have allocated
  perfect
• will be allocating
  progressive
• will have been allocating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of allocate

First recorded in 1630–40; from Medieval Latin allocātus (past participle of allocāre ), equivalent to al- al- + loc(us) “place” + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

To allocate is to set aside a certain amount of money for an expense. You usually hear about the government allocating funds for education or the military, but you may personally allocate some of your allowance to buying comic books. Aside from money, a common thing to allocate is time: "The old woman in the shoe had so many children she could only allocate 2.7 minutes per day to talk to each one individually." Resources are also often allocated. Teachers, for example, are continuously allocating their year's supply of resources so they don't run out of glue sticks and paper before the end of the school year.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

allocate allocates allocated allocating

That granular data allows decisionmakers to allocate resources and target outreach to the areas with the highest need.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

“As we think about technology across all of our portfolios…one of the things that really stand out for us is how we allocate tokens and budgets to each of those strategies,” Swarup said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

That means you’d need to allocate about $11 a day to pay off your credit card.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

There was, however, a bit of good news this summer when Stellantis decided to allocate production of the next-generation Opel Astra and DS4 to Ruesselsheim, securing the plant's operations beyond 2029.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

Nor would he allocate good land to one man every year and bad land to another; rather, he would share these good things amongst all the people who lived over in that place.

From "The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa" by Alexander Mccall Smith

The average U.S. household spends about $1,100 each month on transportation, twice as much as this budget allocates.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion to hire a consultant to reevaluate how the county allocates Measure B funds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Wall Street veterans were surprised that Aschenbrenner also was able to attract investment from Jane Street, a firm that rarely allocates capital to outside managers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

They include the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams, the growth in commercial and broadcast revenue Fifa has overseen, and a programme which allocates millions in funding directly to member countries every year.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Sometimes it fixes prices, allocates the surplus or distributes the loss.

From Public Opinion by Walter Lippmann

Twenty-year-old Lara Reader told the BBC that when she applied for student accommodation at Edinburgh University she did not expect to be allocated the most expensive option on her list.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Navarre said the department had allocated 76 units and 250 personnel to the fire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

The increases were directed at passenger vehicles filling up beyond their allocated quotas and come after Tehran already cut the monthly subsidized allocations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Mills pointed to polices such as control areas for the number of short-term lets and an ongoing review of how key workers are allocated council housing.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

The farthest rooms in the house were allocated to Jean’s mania for photography.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

Unhappy with the US-government run September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Charles successfully pressured the authorities into allocating funds more fairly and to more people.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Even a small discrepancy can require the account custodian to apply its own procedures for allocating any remaining amount.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

By examining the organization of both biological brains and artificial neural networks, Imam and his colleagues found evidence that evolution may involve allocating a limited amount of brain space among competing wiring strategies.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

Weibo is boosting its video-content strategy and allocating more resources to AI to drive long-term user engagement, they add, noting the movesappear strategically sound but could pressure profitability, they add.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Congress had signaled its enthusiasm for an expanded AEC program by allocating the agency a healthy budget for research, he explained.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• allot
• apportion
• appropriate
• designate
• earmark
• give
• set aside