noun

• (commerce) A deduction from the gross weight of goods, such as to discount their container's weight or per a custom differing by country.
  "Minus the allowance, the total came to thirteen tons."
• (horse racing) A permitted reduction in the weight that a racehorse must carry.
  "On the Flat, an apprentice jockey starts with an allowance of 7 lb."
• (minting) A permissible deviation in the fineness and weight of coins, owing to the difficulty in securing exact conformity to the standard prescribed by law.
• (obsolete) Approval; approbation.
  "[…]gave allowance where he needed none"

verb

• (transitive) To put upon a fixed allowance (especially of provisions and drink).
  "The captain was obliged to allowance his crew."
• (transitive) To supply in a fixed and limited quantity.
  "Our provisions were allowanced."