add up
to find the sum (of)
(intr) to result in a correct total
(intr) informal to make sense
(intr foll by to) to amount to
Words Nearby add up
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use add up in a sentence
He thinks if you add up the above the line you'll see that 50 gets you the slightly bigger movie with more action and 45 won't.
Inside Sony’s ‘Pineapple Express 2 Drama’: Leaked Emails Reveal Fight Over Stoner Comedy Sequel | William Boot | December 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut all of them add up to a coiled-up rage, ready to lash out at the nearest target.
Of Gamers, Gates, and Disco Demolition: The Roots of Reactionary Rage | Arthur Chu | October 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTCorruption, suspicion, and a lack of doctors all add up to a growing calamity in Freetown.
In Sierra Leone, the Plague Is Closing in Around Us | Ned Eustace | October 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTGenuinely funny and intelligent and navel-gazing and strange, these parts might eventually add up to something truly big.
Lars Iyer’s ‘Wittgenstein Jr.’ Plumbs the Deep Fun of Philosophical Fiction | Drew Smith | October 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAll of these differences add up to make each planet unique, a product of happenstance and history.
But suppose the pages do not add up to the same amount—they rarely do, and they rarely should—What then?
The Library of Work and Play: Housekeeping | Elizabeth Hale GilmanThen he began to add up the counterfoils of his cheque-book, a depressing operation that displayed an imminent financial crisis.
Plashers Mead | Compton MackenzieBut something is going to happen, just as sure as you can add up two and three and make five out of them.
Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble | Howard R. GarisIn itself, each critical situation was minor, but lumped together they could add up to failure.
Student Body | Floyd L. WallaceThey wrote down another word or two (which isn't fair), and then began to add up.
Happy Days | Alan Alexander Milne
Other Idioms and Phrases with add up
Amount to an expected or correct total, as in These figures don't add up, meaning they are not correct. [Mid-1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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