tabulate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
adjective
-
shaped like a table or tablet; tabular.
-
having transverse septae, as certain corals.
verb
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Also: tabularize. to set out, arrange, or write in tabular form
-
to form or cut with a flat surface
adjective
-
having a flat surface
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(of certain corals) having transverse skeletal plates
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of tabulate
1590–1600; (adj.) < Late Latin tabulātus, past participle of tabulāre to fit with planks, floor; table, -ate 1; (v.) < Latin tabul ( a ), for table + -ate 1
Explanation
To tabulate information is to organize it into a table. If your friend borrows money from you every week, you might want to tabulate what she owes you. Tabulating is a way of processing information or data by putting it in a table. This doesn't mean the kind of table you eat off of, though. It refers to a table, or chart, with rows and columns. When tabulating, you might have to make calculations. Someone who enjoys tabulating financial information might make a good accountant.
Vocabulary lists containing tabulate
The Giver
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Lifting as We Climb
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"Journeys," Vocabulary from Lesson 7
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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.
About 15% of his users have turned on the “paid pool” feature that lets them collect entry fees through Venmo and tabulate payouts when the Oscars are over.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
Counting ballots involves feeding each one into electronic scanners that tabulate their results.
From BBC • Nov. 4, 2024
The county that includes Las Vegas also will use 26 machines that tabulate in-person ballots on Election Day from flash drives, up from 10 in 2022.
From Seattle Times • May 22, 2024
It has 20 scanners to tabulate ballots, all of which will be running on election night.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2024
I was in the midst of writing a novel and he was calling me from it to tabulate the price of groceries.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
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.
