Al·low v. t. [imp. & p. p. Allowed p. pr. & vb. n. Allowing.]
 1. To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction. [Obs. or Archaic]
    Ye allow the deeds of your fathers.   --Luke xi. 48.
    We commend his pains, condemn his pride, allow his life, approve his learning.   --Fuller.
 2. To like; to be suited or pleased with. [Obs.]
    How allow you the model of these clothes?   --Massinger.
 3. To sanction; to invest; to intrust. [Obs.]
    Thou shalt be . . . allowed with absolute power.   --Shak.
 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.
    He was allowed about three hundred pounds a year.   --Macaulay.
 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.
    I allow, with Mrs. Grundy and most moralists, that Miss Newcome's conduct . . . was highly reprehensible.   --Thackeray.
 6. To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; esp. to abate or deduct; as, to allow a sum for leakage.
 7. To grant license to; to permit; to consent to; as, to allow a son to be absent.
 Syn: -- To allot; assign; bestow; concede; admit; permit; suffer; tolerate. See Permit.