allow
Usage
What are other ways to say allow?
Allow and permit are often interchangeable as terms that imply granting or conceding the right of someone to do something, but permit is the more positive of the two. Allow implies complete absence of an attempt, or even an intent, to hinder. Permit suggests formal or implied assent or authorization. Let is the familiar, conversational term for both allow and permit.
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:
Leaders at both OpenAI and Anthropic have called for establishing new mechanisms that would allow AI companies to coordinate on safety matters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The politicians also want to allow for stiffer fines against companies following a disaster.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
If you allow people to earn cash from dead snakes, you risk getting a lot more living snakes in the process.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Prices were adjusted for inflation using Office for National Statistics, external data to allow for comparisons over time.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
But when it came to fishing, the girl had bad luck, and that was something he could not allow, not on his ship, not with a half-empty hold and a crew of men to feed.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
The indictment allows prosecutors to avoid a preliminary hearing and speeds up the process for the case to proceed to trial.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
"This allows us to connect the experimental observations directly to the underlying many-body physics."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
This allows them in many cases to ignore things like minimum wage requirements, workplace safety and access to social security.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Such entrepreneurial packaging serves as a Trojan horse for scammers wanting to set up shop without drawing unwanted attention – and allows them to perpetrate their fraud more effectively.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
It allows you to think, to wonder if you’ve missed out on other possibilities by becoming a wife to this man in this house with these children.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
The Mexican proposal, made in recent weeks, would expand the tariff-free content allowed in vehicles and lower the top-line tariff rate for North American cars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Late on Tuesday, a Palestinian ambulance was finally allowed to reach the families, delivering food and taking one child away for medical treatment.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
In a speech that year, he called for state-owned enterprises to be allowed to "swim by themselves in the markets".
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
The resulting virtual reconstruction allowed the researchers to follow the sauropod's movement across the entire trail.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Because of their medical condition, patients are not allowed to move freely.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
She said it was one of her customers, Jim - a retired scientist - who had supplied the eclipse glasses, allowing people to watch this evening's celestial phenomenon safely.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
But Pages dropped the ball on the transfer, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
IM-3 is expected to become the first mission to explore the surface of a lunar swirl, allowing robotic systems and deployed instruments to investigate this still mysterious region in greater detail.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Kalshi has led the surging popularity of prediction markets in the U.S., allowing users to speculate on sports and major events.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
And he finally pulled back that deep-red curtain and moved aside, allowing the mysterious stooped man to step into the aisle.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Vocabulary lists containing allow
Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Sporting Spirit"
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Workshop 3, Part 2
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