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.
Chatterjee believes the company is capable of achieving the Rule of 50 — meaning that its annual revenue growth and profit margin would add up to 50% or more — by fiscal 2030.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
"These differences may seem small at first, but they can add up in ways that affect learning, memory and everyday functioning."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
It simply did not add up to the thing I had gone there to find.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
Andy Burnham's first week pledges - how much do they add up to?
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
By the way, it’s fine to add up to any of the wake forms: Wake up and smell the coffee!
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
