reallocate

verb

re·​al·​lo·​cate (ˌ)rē-ˈa-lə-ˌkāt 

reallocated; reallocating; reallocates

transitive verb

: to allocate (something) again: such as

a

: to apportion or distribute (something) in a new or different way

The best way to start an overhaul of the nation's statistical system would be to reallocate funds from the Agriculture Department to other agencies.

—Joseph Spiers

b

: to earmark or designate (something) for a new or different purpose

In recent years, many local low-income housing units … have been demolished or reallocated to serve wealthier residents.

—Hannah Russell

reallocation

(ˌ)rē-ˌa-lə-ˈkā-shən 

noun

plural reallocations

… the reallocation of local property taxes from library budgets to school districts …

—Ruth Perry

The reallocation for overflow parking could take away as many as 75 spots from resident students during its allotted hours …

—Emma Reith

Examples of reallocate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And the capital that built the large language model era has begun to reallocate. — Celine Herweijer, Time, 15 July 2026

While travel demand remains strong, airlines have responded by reducing or reallocating flights and, in some cases, raising fares. — Christiaan Hen, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026

For Meta, the company is more likely to reallocate any internal compute that is ultimately deemed to yield a lower return and rent it out — in essence, doing the opposite of what some investors have taken issue with at Microsoft. — Zev Fima, CNBC, 8 July 2026

The only plan voters supported in 2006 did not involve a tax increase and instead reallocated an existing bus tax. — Dylan Lysen, Kansas City Star, 7 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1899, in the meaning defined above