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.
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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
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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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"How Do We Use Water?"
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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:
Another friend’s workaround for simultaneously curbing spending and upping her investments: Every time she’s tempted to buy something she doesn’t need, she’ll instead move the equivalent amount of money into her investment account.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Investments could drastically change the ultimate amount a person has to spend over the rest of their lifetime, especially as Americans are living longer and spending two or even three or more decades in retirement.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
The amount was significant: equivalent to 6kg of TNT.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Their calculations included the energy needed to travel between Mars and different asteroids, the amount of metal that could realistically be collected, and the fuel required to complete the journey.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Boaz, with a surprising amount of strength, tried pulling her back onto the path.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
It would require enormous amounts of metal, including structural steel for habitats, aluminum for machinery, and iron for tools.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Large media companies produce endless amounts of entertainment and news.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
"Almost the entire bill is heading in the same direction. One way or another it amounts to handing over our property, what belongs to us," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
"Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed."
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Within a week it was erupting magma, albeit in modest amounts, up to a hundred times a day, and being constantly shaken with earthquakes.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
This was "inaccurate for higher earners", the report said, and "amounted to mis-selling".
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The loss amounted to 9 cents a share, less than the 24-cent forecast by analysts, while revenue topped the $6.81 billion analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Fedorova's employers said this week they were astonished to learn of the expulsion order, which they said amounted to "a particularly serious infringement of freedom of expression".
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Last year, sales amounted to 30.66 billion pounds, equivalent to $40.99 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Who and what was he to feel the agony of a wonder so intensely that it amounted to fear?
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
Thirteen large fires are burning across the northwestern state, according to state data, with the number of acres burned so far this year amounting to the highest since 2021.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The study found such collisions killed between 15% and 29% of a group each year, and was the main cause of recorded hedgehog deaths, amounting to about two fifths of the total.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
But when Kore-eda’s execution isn’t as assured, as is the case with his latest, all that delicacy simply floats off into the ether, rarely amounting to much more than a halfhearted shrug.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
As of July 8, ConserveOhio has collected more than 105,000 signatures, amounting to 25% of the 420,142 required.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
On a $2 billion trade—a trade that would, in the end, have transferred a $2 billion loss from Merrill Lynch to Morgan Stanley—the two traders were arguing over interest payments amounting to $800,000 a year.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
