summing-up

American  

[suhm-ing-uhp] / ˈsʌm ɪŋˈʌp /

noun

• summings-up
  plural

1. a summation or statement made for the purpose of reviewing the basic concepts or principles of an argument, story, explanation, testimony, or the like, and usually presented at the end.

---

summing-up British  

noun

1. a review or summary of the main points of an argument, speech, etc

2. a direction regarding the law and a summary of the evidence, given by a judge in his address to the jury before they retire to consider their verdict

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• summings-up
  plural

Etymology

Origin of summing-up

1780–90; sum up + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

summing-up summings-up

At the beginning of his summing-up, known as his charge to the jury, Rooney said the death of Noah Donohoe has left a hole in the lives of his family and friends.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

The Christmas broadcasts have long served as a kind of annual summing-up about the doings of the royal family, including births, heirs, anniversaries, jubilees and deaths.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 25, 2022

But unless you’re an Irving superfan craving a big summing-up, the novel’s muchness might simply suffocate.

From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2022

In April of last year, NBC anchor Lester Holt did a summing-up report on Afghanistan as "America's longest war" by offering one and only one casualty figure: "2,300 American deaths."

From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2022

Before Pirow’s summing-up, Berrange announced he would apply for our discharge on the grounds that the state had not offered sufficient evidence against us.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

They are deployed for pauses and interruptions in speech; they precede bursts of exposition, neat summings-up and lengthy tangents.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2025

One can't make a task-work of dialogue; there must be biting touches, summings-up, and flashes of wit, which are the blossoms of the mind, and come rather by inspiration than reflection.

From Letters of Two Brides by Honoré de Balzac