add up to

Idioms  

1. Amount to, signify, as in The smooth airline connections, luxury hotel, and fine weather added up to the best vacation we'd ever had. [Early 1900s] Also see add up.

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Example Sentences

For a factory working a large apartment project, those fewer percentage points might add up to a quarter million dollars or more.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

It’s a bit like an assortment of individual tiles that collectively add up to a mosaic.

From Slate • Mar. 18, 2026

These costs can add up to $300 to $600 a month, depending on the plan.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 12, 2026

But a decision to cancel the races could have a significant financial impact - the fees paid by the two oil-rich countries add up to well over $100m.

From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026

Unfortunately, the nanoseconds used up in a simple computer operation do add up to lengthy bottlenecks on intractable problems, many of which would require millennia to solve in general.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos