allowance
Americannoun
-
the act of allowing.
-
an amount or share allotted or granted.
- Synonyms:
- allotment
-
a sum of money allotted or granted for a particular purpose, as for expenses.
Her allowance for the business trip was $200.
-
a sum of money allotted or granted to a person on a regular basis, as for personal or general living expenses.
The art student lived on an allowance of $600 a month.
When I was in first grade, my parents gave me an allowance of seven dollars a week.
- Synonyms:
- stipend
-
an addition or deduction based on an extenuating or qualifying circumstance.
an allowance for profit;
an allowance for depreciation.
-
acknowledgment; concession.
the allowance of a claim.
-
passive permission resulting from lack of interference; toleration.
the allowance of slavery.
- Synonyms:
- sufferance, permission, acceptance
- Antonyms:
- proscription, prohibition, interdiction
-
Machinery. a prescribed difference in dimensions of two closely fitting mating parts with regard to minimum clearance or maximum interference.
-
Coining. tolerance.
verb (used with object)
-
to place on a fixed allowance, as of food or drink.
-
to allocate (supplies, rations, etc.) in fixed or regular amounts.
idioms
noun
-
an amount of something, esp money or food, given or allotted usually at regular intervals
-
a discount, as in consideration for something given in part exchange or to increase business; rebate
-
(in Britain) an amount of a person's income that is not subject to a particular tax and is therefore deducted before his or her liability to taxation is assessed
-
a portion set aside to compensate for something or to cover special expenses
-
education a salary supplement given to a teacher who is appointed to undertake extra duties and responsibilities
-
admission; concession
-
the act of allowing; sanction; toleration
-
something allowed
-
(usually foll by for)
-
to take mitigating circumstances into account in consideration (of)
-
to allow (for)
-
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of allowance
1350–1400; Middle English alouance < Middle French. See allow, -ance
Explanation
When you're a kid, you might earn an allowance or a sum of money in exchange for doing chores around the house. Your parents' allowance — or tolerance — of your silly behavior will depend on how strict they are. An allowance is a quantity of something that's allowed or permitted within a set of rules or for a particular purpose. This could be a weekly allowance you earn as a kid, or it could be the allowance for passengers on a flight to have two carry-on items. To make allowances for someone means to treat someone leniently, or to give them a break.
Vocabulary lists containing allowance
Christopher Columbus' Diary: The First Voyage
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 16
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Shiloh
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This shelter will come in addition to the federal allowance on estate taxes, which is now up to $30 million for a couple.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
I had a comfortable allowance, and then I went to school and worked hard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
“We have made allowance for a modest headwind to domestic margins in FY27, rising in FY28 with a full year effect,” UBS says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Those with the greatest need would receive an extra allowance of cheap energy and are forecast to save an average of £140 a year, compared to £100 for the majority of households.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
“Let’s say I give you a penny for your allowance on January first,” she said, “and on January second, I double your allowance.”
From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman
The update approved in May will remove 118 million allowances from the market by 2030, and 900 million after 2030, which officials say will keep California on its path to carbon neutrality by 2045.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
But as insurers get more disciplined, the era of ever-richer benefits that included perks like vision and grocery allowances is over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Parents get an upfront "baby bonus" of £20,000-£30,000 when their child is born, as well as generous child benefit allowances each month.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
They have agreed a two year pay deal that includes a 5% increase in basic pay, shift allowances backdated to 1 January, and a one-off bank holiday.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
Each group received free treatment, but one received other services as well, including regular visits from community health workers and small monthly cash allowances for food, child care, and transportation to Zanmi Lasante.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
The first album I ever bought with my own money, allowanced saved up for weeks, was “Long Hard Climb.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2020
Then don't you ever go and say you were allowanced, mind that.'
From The Old Curiosity Shop by Dickens, Charles
On the other hand, they will not stand being allowanced for tea, sugar, butter, or anything of the kind, and as a rule they fare in exactly the same style as their masters.
From Town Life in Australia by Twopeny, Richard Ernest Nowell
Further, I was told that tea, coffee, and sugar are roughly allowanced to each family.
From The Communistic Societies of the United States From Personal Visit and Observation by Nordhoff, Charles
Onct a week dey would come and dey allowanced 'em out pervisions.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves: Volume XVI, Texas Narratives, Part 4 by United States. Work Projects Administration
The Germans had been allowancing Recicourt to nine a day.
From The Martial Adventures of Henry and Me by White, William Allen
And when the larger wood begins to grow scarce, what course does the peasant adopt?—The allowancing of individuals.
From The Place of Anarchism in Socialistic Evolution An Address Delivered in Paris by Glasse, Henry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
