amount
Americannoun
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amounts
plural
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the sum total of two or more quantities or sums; aggregate.
-
the sum of the principal and interest of a loan.
-
quantity; measure.
a great amount of resistance.
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the full effect, value, or significance.
verb (used without object)
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amounts,
present (3rd person singular)
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amounted,
past participle, past
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amounting
present participle
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to total; add (usually followed byto ).
The repair bill amounts to $300.
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to reach, extend, or be equal in number, quantity, effect, etc.; be equivalent (usually followed byto ).
It is stated differently but amounts to the same thing.
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to develop into; become (usually followed byto ).
With his intelligence, he should amount to something when he grows up.
noun
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extent; quantity; supply
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the total of two or more quantities; sum
-
the full value, effect, or significance of something
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a principal sum plus the interest on it, as in a loan
verb
Usage
The use of a plural noun after amount of (an amount of bananas; the amount of refugees ) should be avoided: a quantity of bananas; the number of refugees
Commonly Confused
The traditional distinction between amount and number is that amount is used with mass or uncountable nouns ( the amount of paperwork; the amount of energy ) and number with countable nouns ( a number of songs; a number of days ). Although objected to, the use of amount instead of number with countable nouns occurs in both speech and writing, especially when the noun can be considered as a unit or group ( the amount of people present; the amount of weapons ) or when it refers to money ( the amount of dollars paid; the amount of pennies in the till ).
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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amountsimple
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amountssimple
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have amountedperfect
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has amountedperfect
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am amountingprogressive
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are amountingprogressive
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is amountingprogressive
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have been amountingperfect progressive
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has been amountingperfect progressive
Past
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amountedsimple
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had amountedperfect
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was amountingprogressive
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were amountingprogressive
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had been amountingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of amount
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English verb amounten, amunten, from Anglo-French amo(u)nter, amunter, Old French amonter literally, “to go up, ascend,” probably a- + monter; noun use of verb from early 18th century; see a- 5, mount 1
Explanation
An amount is a number, or quantity, of something. If you're surprised by the amount of work you have to do at your new job, you probably didn't expect such a long list of tasks. You might complain about the amount of time it takes for the shoes you bought to arrive: amount here means the number of days before you can wear them. Amount is also a verb, meaning "add up to," like when you hope the tips you earn will amount to more than minimum wage. This meaning came before the noun amount, from the now obsolete definition, "to mount a horse," from the Old French amonter, "upward."
Vocabulary lists containing amount
Measurement and Data, List 1
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Measurement and Data
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The filing claims that a record from Zelle, a money-transferring service, shows a subsequent payment to Case in the amount of $4,000 from “Melissa E. Nathan.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
Packard-Grams and Jesse Obert of the Archaeological Research Facility scanned the newly written scrolls to verify the amount of lead present.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
It takes no small amount of discipline and sacrifice to save for retirement, and to live within your means in order to do that.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 26, 2026
It is expected to reap substantial production gains in its more developed fields in a relatively short amount of time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Then she wrote the amount, whimsically added Yours in both sun and shade, and signed Lady Constance’s name with a flourish.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Neurons may use large amounts of ATP during REM sleep to support memory-related synaptic reorganization, communication between the hippocampus and cortex, or broad transitions across brain circuits.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
Ortega began acting as a child, and her burgeoning career eventually required her to spend significant amounts of time in Los Angeles.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
She amounts to a stand-in for people who use technology to wall themselves off from everyone else, disappear into their screens, and grow increasingly skittish about real human contact.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
In Newport Beach, where 10-to-15-foot swells from Marie stripped away large amounts of sand in places like the Wedge, officials are keeping an eye on the upcoming forecast, said Georgia Rios, a city spokesperson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
“You will need to continue the kind of exercises we have done today, drawing small amounts of the splendor in and through your body,” said Badwa.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
That was where businessman Tunnock stepped in with a donation which, he said at the time, amounted to a "lot of caramel wafers".
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Damian wasn’t convinced that amounted to an economic injury.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
Investigators gathered video from a matrix of security cameras that surround the busy intersection to support their contention that Rios’ actions amounted to murder with implied malice, according to law enforcement sources.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
This amounted to a giant tax on the companies—many of which don’t operate in New York—their customers and shareholders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Maddie’s egg allocation amounted to one per week.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
In 2024, the same team used AI to recover 15 complete columns from a scroll owned by the Institut de France, amounting to less than one tenth of the entire document.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
Jones said it was right that the "burden will fall on the bigger businesses, not just in the hospitality sector" to pay higher rates, amounting to around 1p in every £1.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Two city-owned parcels amounting to almost a half-acre of land were needed to build the museum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
The total 100,000 cuts will be the largest restructuring ever carried out in the global automotive industry, amounting to about 15 percent of the carmaker's staff worldwide.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
With what he calls “that quick detective intuition amounting almost to inspiration,” he knows that Booth’s escape options are limited.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
