the act of distributing by allotting or apportioning; distribution according to a plan; "the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives is based on the relative population of each state"
the act of allowing; "He objected to the allowance of smoking in the dining room"
a permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits
an amount added or deducted on the basis of qualifying circumstances; "an allowance for profit"
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"
an accumulation of jobs not done or materials not processed that are yet to be dealt with (especially unfilled customer orders for products or services)
an unstable construction with playing cards; "he built three levels of his cardcastle before it collapsed"
a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control; "his proposal was nothing but a house of cards"; "a real estate bubble"