What is a meaning word "a"?

Question

Please explain the meaning of the word/letter,  "a" in gazette title.

Boris Johnson risks major row with Donald Trump after allowing controversial Chinese app TikTok a London HQ.

www.thesun.co.uk/news/12295304/boris-johnson-clashes-donald-trump-tiktok-london-hq/amp/
I guess it means "have".

NotSoPedantic · Answer

“A” is just being used normally as an article.
If we shave down the sentence to just the necessary words we need to answer this question, we get:

Johnson allows TikTok a London HQ.

All this means is that TikTok is now allowed to build an HQ in London.
You could also think of this as:

Johnson allows TikTok [to build] a London HQ.

One Answer