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• tot
  tot

  noun

  a small child.
• tot.
  tot.

  abbreviation

  total.

tot

¹ American  

[tot] / tɒt /

noun

1. a small child.

2. Chiefly British. a small portion of a beverage, especially a dram of liquor.

3. a small quantity of anything.

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tot ² American  

[tot] / tɒt /

verb (used with or without object)

• tots,
  present (3rd person singular)
• totted,
  past participle,  past
• totting
  present participle

1. to add; total (often followed byup ).

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noun

1. a total.

2. the act of adding.

3. British Informal. a column of numbers to be added.

tot. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. total.

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tot ¹ British  

/ tɒt /

noun

1. a young child; toddler

2. a small amount of anything

3. a small measure of spirits

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tot ² British  

/ tɒt /

verb

1. (usually foll by up) to total; add

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• untotted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• totting
  present
• totted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• tot
  simple
• tots
  simple
• have totted
  perfect
• has totted
  perfect
• am totting
  progressive
• are totting
  progressive
• is totting
  progressive
• have been totting
  perfect progressive
• has been totting
  perfect progressive

Past

• totted
  simple
• had totted
  perfect
• was totting
  progressive
• were totting
  progressive
• had been totting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will tot
  simple
• will have totted
  perfect
• will be totting
  progressive
• will have been totting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of tot¹

1680–90; perhaps short for totterer ( def. )

Origin of tot²

1745–55; < Latin: so much, so many

Explanation

A tot is a small child, like the tots at your little sister's nursery school. Tater tots, or little bitty potato puffs, are another kind of tot. The origin of the noun tot is a little unclear, although we know it first appeared in the 18th century. It was also common in the early 20th century to refer to children's playgrounds as tot lots. As a verb, tot is an old-fashioned way to say "add," a shortened form of total. So your waiter might say, "I'll be right back with your check as soon as I tot everything up!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tot tots totted totting

The spending that was originally anticipated for the fourth quarter is pushed forward tot the first quarter of 2026.

From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2025

A homeless services center is in the works too, and a tiny tot playground, torched several months ago, will be rebuilt in the new year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2024

They're starting to tot up against the hosts now.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2024

When you tot up the balance of alleged irreparable harms here, it isn’t even a close call.

From Slate ● Mar. 19, 2024

They brought the barrel and poured out a generous tot for the Questing Beast “Poor creature,” said King Pellinore indignantly.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

A hungry Grogu uses the Force to steal cheddar ranch tots, garlic chicken fries, a Whopper burger and a blue milkshake.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026

Lamb Weston, based in Idaho, has a market value of close to $6.5 billion and is a major producer of frozen-potato products including french fries, hash browns and tater tots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026

Pair it with fresh-baked french fries or tater tots and an assortment of dips, whether that’s hot sauce, salsa or melted queso.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2025

"Henry missed out on a lot of social interaction, going to mum and tots groups and things like that," she said.

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2024

Before I could say something, the tots toddled off.

From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli

Last season, he totted up a Premier League record of 21 assists.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

But Anisimova was annoyed with herself too, as she totted up 44 unforced errors to Pegula's 21 and made seven double faults.

From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026

An on-air graphic totted up the final score: 34 guilty, 0 not guilty.

From New York Times ● May 30, 2024

Zookeepers tempted squirrel monkeys onto scales, totted up tarantulas and used a curry-scented measuring stick to coax Sumatran tigers to stretch out.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 24, 2023

Now I totted up numbers this way and that.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

We might worry about the quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases totting up in the atmosphere, or feel increasingly nervous about tiny, naked-to-the-eye particles of pollution, especially in car-choked cities.

From Slate ● Dec. 20, 2021

Their own insularity prevents no one in this book from totting up the ethical and empathic deficits of others.

From New York Times ● Oct. 1, 2019

After totting up the newborn neurons in each section, he tapped the number into a statistics program.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 4, 2015

Plaid Cymru has added 200 people, taking its total to 8,000, while the Green Party has added 3,721, totting up to 66,573.

From BBC ● May 15, 2015

Now, I have taken the liberty of totting up, in my own mind, some of your earnings.

From Such Is Life by Joseph Furphy