Meaning & use
allocation
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Meanings
noununcountable
The act of deciding how to divide something such as money, time or space and giving each part to a person or purpose.
Grammar: Used without an or a for the process: the allocation of funds.
Patterns
- allocation of something to someone
- allocation of something for something
The allocation of funds took the committee three meetings.
Fair allocation of tasks keeps the team motivated.
The allocation of seats begins at noon.
nouncountable
An amount or share that has been set aside for a particular person or purpose.
Grammar: Can take an or an and a plural: each department gets an allocation.
Patterns
- an allocation of something
- someone's allocation
Our annual allocation for travel has been cut.
Each family received an allocation of two tickets.
He used up his entire water allocation by July.
Word forms
| plural | allocations |
|---|
Common combinations
- budget allocation
- The budget allocation for the park doubled this year.
- allocation of resources
- The allocation of resources is the hardest part of planning.
- fair allocation
- They argued for a fair allocation of the profits.
- seat allocation
- Seat allocation is done by lottery.
- annual allocation
- Her annual allocation covers equipment and training.
Synonyms and how they differ
- allotment
- Allotment stresses the portion given out, often a small fixed share, while allocation also covers the planning process.
- distribution
- Distribution is about spreading things around and does not need a decision about who deserves what.
- assignment
- Assignment is more about giving a specific person a task or item than dividing up a whole supply.
- quota
- Quota is a fixed limit or required share, whereas allocation can be flexible.
Opposites
Word family
- allocate verb
- to give out a share for a purpose
- allocatable adjective
- able to be given as a share
- reallocate verb
- to divide up again in a different way
- misallocation noun
- a wrong or wasteful division of resources
Commonly confused: allocation or location?
allocation vs location
Location is a place where something is, while allocation is a share given out. They look alike but have separate meanings.
Practice
The school received a larger ___ of funds this year, so it could hire two more teachers.
Choose one answer.
An allocation is a share of money set aside for a purpose. The other options are similar-sounding words that do not fit funds.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “allocation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.