1. The act of allowing
   "He objected to the allowance of smoking in the dining room"
    
2. An amount allowed or granted (as during a given period)
   "a child's allowance should not be too generous"; "travel allowance"; "my weekly allowance of two eggs"
    
3. A sum granted as reimbursement for expenses
   "The company provided a travel allowance for employees on business trips"
    
4. An amount added or deducted on the basis of qualifying circumstances
   "an allowance for profit";
   - adjustment
    
5. A permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits
   "The project deadline had some allowance built in for unexpected delays";
   - leeway, margin, tolerance
    
6. A reserve fund created by a charge against profits in order to provide for changes in the value of a company's assets
   "The bank established an allowance to account for potential loan losses";
   - valuation reserve, valuation account, allowance account

1. Put on a fixed allowance, as of food
   "The dietitian allowanced the patient's meals"

Derived forms: allowanced, allowances, allowancing

Type of: accord, allot, allow, disagreement, discrepancy, divergence, grant, licence [Brit, Cdn], license [N. Amer], part, percentage, permission, permit, portion, recompense, reimbursement, reserve account, reserve fund, share, variance

Encyclopedia: Allowance