Meaning & use
allocations
Last updated
“allocations” is a form of “allocation”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplural
Amounts of money, time, space or resources that have been set aside for particular people or purposes.
Grammar: Often followed by for or to: allocations for schools, allocations to each department.
Patterns
- allocations for something
- allocations to someone
The budget allocations for the library were cut this year.
Each department received its allocations in January.
Water allocations to farmers fell during the drought.
nounpluralformal
Decisions or acts of dividing up shares or portions among several recipients.
Grammar: Usually describes repeated decisions: the allocations were made fairly.
Patterns
- allocations of something
The allocations of seats were announced on Friday.
Council allocations of housing caused debate.
The rules govern allocations of funding.
Common combinations
- budget allocations
- The budget allocations were published online.
- resource allocations
- Managers review resource allocations every quarter.
- fair allocations
- The group demanded fair allocations of food.
- increase allocations
- The government plans to increase allocations for health.
- cut allocations
- The college had to cut allocations to clubs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- allotments
- Allotments are the portions given out, often small, whereas allocations suggests official or planned sharing.
- quotas
- Quotas are fixed limits or shares set by a rule, whereas allocations may be flexible.
- shares
- Shares is more general and informal, and it does not suggest an official decision.
- appropriations
- Appropriations are sums approved formally by a government body, a narrower use than allocations.
Opposites
Word family
- allocate verb
- to give out for a purpose
- allocation noun
- the act or an amount
- allocated adjective
- set aside for a purpose
- reallocate verb
- to assign again differently
Commonly confused: allocations or allocution?
allocations vs allocution
An allocution is a formal speech, usually in court, not a sharing out of resources.
Practice
The school's funding allocations ___ announced yesterday.
Choose one answer.
Allocations is plural, so it needs the plural verb were. Was fits a singular subject like allocation.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “allocations”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.