Meaning & use
reallocate
Last updated
Meaning
verbtransitive
To share out money, time, staff or other resources again, giving them to different uses or people than before.
Grammar: Takes an object, often with to: reallocate funds to schools.
Patterns
- reallocate something to someone
- reallocate something from something to something
The council decided to reallocate funds from roads to schools.
The manager reallocated the tasks after two people left.
We may have to reallocate seats if more guests arrive.
Word forms
| third person singular | reallocates |
|---|---|
| past tense | reallocated |
| past participle | reallocated |
| -ing form | reallocating |
Common combinations
- reallocate funds
- The charity reallocated funds to emergency relief.
- reallocate resources
- The hospital reallocated resources to the busiest ward.
- reallocate staff
- The company reallocated staff to the new office.
- reallocate the budget
- They had to reallocate the budget after the price rise.
- reallocate responsibilities
- The team reallocated responsibilities during her leave.
Synonyms and how they differ
- redistribute
- Redistribute suggests spreading something more evenly among many recipients, while reallocate suggests a decision about who gets what.
- reassign
- Reassign is usually used for people and tasks, whereas reallocate also covers money and supplies.
- redirect
- Redirect means sending something to a new target and often describes one move, not a general reshuffle.
- shift
- Shift is less formal and does not imply any official plan.
Word family
- allocate verb
- to give out for a particular purpose
- reallocation noun
- the act of sharing out again
- allocation noun
- an amount given for a purpose
Commonly confused: reallocate or relocate?
reallocate vs relocate
Relocate means to move to a new place, while reallocate means to give out resources again.
Practice
After the project was cancelled, the manager decided to ___ the money to other teams.
Choose one answer.
Reallocate means to give out money again for new uses. Relocate is for moving a place, a tempting sound-alike.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reallocate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.