add up to

Idioms  

1. Amount to, signify, as in The smooth airline connections, luxury hotel, and fine weather added up to the best vacation we'd ever had. [Early 1900s] Also see add up.

---

Example Sentences

For a factory working a large apartment project, those fewer percentage points might add up to a quarter million dollars or more.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

It’s a bit like an assortment of individual tiles that collectively add up to a mosaic.

From Slate • Mar. 18, 2026

"If they were reducing their salaries to add up to our cocoa prices, that would have been brilliant," he told the BBC.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026

That doesn’t add up to being able to pay $118,000 a year for a room in a nursing home very easily.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 4, 2026

A diminished chord is built from two minor thirds, which add up to a diminished fifth.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones