- total
- [[t]to͟ʊt(ə)l[/t]]
♦totals, totalling, totalled1) N-COUNT A total is the number that you get when you add several numbers together or when you count how many things there are in a group.
The companies have a total of 1,776 employees.
2) ADJ: ADJ n The total number or cost of something is the number or cost that you get when you add together or count all the parts in it.They said that the total number of cows dying from BSE would be twenty thousand...
The total cost of the project would be more than $240 million dollars.
3) PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl, amount PHR If there are a number of things in total, there are that number when you count or add them all together.I was with my husband for eight years in total...
In total, 45 per cent of adults in Britain are exposed to tobacco smoke at home.
4) VERB If several numbers or things total a certain figure, that figure is the total of all the numbers or all the things.[V amount] The unit's exports will total $85 million this year...
[V amount] They will compete for prizes totalling nearly ₤3000.
5) VERB When you total a set of numbers or objects, you add them all together.[V n] They haven't totalled the exact figures.
6) ADJ: usu ADJ n (emphasis) You can use total to emphasize that something is as great in extent, degree, or amount as it possibly can be.You were a total failure if you hadn't married by the time you were about twenty-three...
There was an almost total lack of management control...
Why should we trust a total stranger?...
I have total confidence that things will change.
Syn:Derived words:totally ADV ADV adj/adv, ADV with vYoung people want something totally different from the old ways...
The fire totally destroyed the top floor.
English dictionary. 2008.
