allowance

/əˈlaʊəns/

/əˈlaʊɪns/

Other forms: allowances; allowanced; allowancing

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.

Definitions of allowance

1. noun

   the act of allowing
   types:

   tolerance

   the act of tolerating something

   lenience, leniency

   lightening a penalty or excusing from a chore by judges or parents or teachers

   type of:

   licence, license, permission, permit

   the act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization
2. noun

   an amount allowed or granted (as during a given period)
   “travel allowance”

   “my weekly allowance of two eggs”

   “a child's allowance should not be too generous”

   types:

   privy purse

   allowance for a monarch's personal expenses

   type of:

   part, percentage, portion, share

   assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group
3. noun

   a sum granted as reimbursement for expenses
   types:

   per diem

   a daily allowance for living expenses (especially while traveling in connection with your job)

   travel allowance, travel reimbursement

   a sum allowed for travel

   mileage

   a travel allowance at a given rate per mile traveled

   type of:

   reimbursement

   compensation paid (to someone) for damages or losses or money already spent etc.
4. noun

   an amount added or deducted on the basis of qualifying circumstances
   “an allowance for profit”

   synonyms: adjustment

   types:

   cost-of-living allowance

   an allowance for changes in the consumer price index

   depreciation allowance

   an allowance for loss due to depreciation

   deduction, discount

   an amount or percentage deducted

   seasonal adjustment

   a statistical adjustment made to accommodate predictable fluctuations as a function of the season of the year

   tare

   an adjustment made for the weight of the packaging in order to determine the net weight of the goods

   trade discount

   a discount from the list price of a commodity allowed by a manufacturer or wholesaler to a merchant

   type of:

   recompense

   payment or reward (as for service rendered)
5. noun

   a reserve fund created by a charge against profits in order to provide for changes in the value of a company's assets
   synonyms: allowance account, valuation account, valuation reserve

   type of:

   reserve account, reserve fund

   funds taken out of earnings to provide for anticipated future payments
6. noun

   a permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits
   synonyms: leeway, margin, tolerance

   type of:

   disagreement, discrepancy, divergence, variance

   a difference between conflicting facts or claims or opinions
7. verb

   put on a fixed allowance, as of food
   type of:

   allow, grant

   let have