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sum total

See more synonyms for sum total on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. complete numerical total: the sum total of my savings.
  2. essence; substance: The sum total of research in the field.
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Origin of sum total

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sum total

Historical Examples

  • A cook, a butler, and a valet were the sum-total of his retinue.

    The Lure of the Mask

    Harold MacGrath

  • That, at least, was the sum-total as it presented itself to him, and on which he framed his conclusions.

    Michael

    E. F. Benson

  • We cannot evaluate progress as an increase in a sum-total of happiness.

  • (a) Rows of raw fact; (b) Principles, spiritual or sum-total facts.

    The Lost Art of Reading

    Gerald Stanley Lee

  • Consequently the sum-total that you ought to have in hand soon is—how much?

    Childhood

    Leo Tolstoy

Idioms and Phrases with sum total

sum total

The entirety, everything, as in I spent all day in the kitchen and the sum total of my efforts is this cake. [Mid-1600s]

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.