add up
Britishverb
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to find the sum (of)
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(intr) to result in a correct total
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informal (intr) to make sense
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to amount to
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Amount to an expected or correct total, as in These figures don't add up , meaning they are not correct. [Mid-1800s]
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Be consistent, make sense, as in I'm not sure that all this testimony will add up . [First half of 1900s]
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Assess, form an opinion of, as in He looked across the track and added up the competition . Also see add up to .
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.
How to cut departmental spending to make the books add up?
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
It just doesn’t add up to the answer he wanted.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2026
I felt the best way to get across who he was was to show all the ways he was publicly, in stand-up, sketches, movies and interviews, and maybe it would add up to to something.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
Paris will never get its numbers to add up if such an expenditure can’t be debated or reformed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
After I talk to Sheila, I don't see how the facts can add up to anything.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
