total Hear it!

total definition

to·tal (tōt′'l)

adjective

  1. constituting the (or a) whole; entire; whole
  2. complete; utter a total loss

Etymology: ME < MFr < ML totalis < L totus, all, whole < IE base *tēu-, to swell > thumb

noun

the whole amount or number; sum; aggregate

transitive verb totaled -·taled or totalled -·talled, totaling -·tal·ing or totalling -·tal·ling

  1. to find the total of; add
  2. to equal a total of; add up to
  3. ☆ Slang to wreck completely; demolish

intransitive verb

to amount (to) as a whole

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

law total definition - legal

total Synonyms

total

modif.

  1. Whole

    entire, inclusive, complete, cumulative; see whole 1.

  2. Utter

    complete, utter, thorough; see absolute 1. See syn. study at complete.


total

n.

sum, entirety, result; see whole. See syn. study at sum.


total

v.

  1. To add

    figure, calculate, count up, ring up, tag up, sum up, add up; see also add 1.

  2. To amount to

    consist of, come to, add up to; see amount to, equal.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

total Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • bring: The latest operation brings the total of oil removed from the wreck to over 670 cubic meters.

Preposition: in

  • excess: Additional plants were drawn from the container nursery, which totals in excess of 100 acres.

Adjective modifier

  • grand: Managed a few more raising the total to the evening to 41 and taking the grand total above the 1000 mark to 1025.

Modifies a noun

  • cost: The total costs of the project are £ 14.6 million.

Noun used with modifier

  • runoff: Despite spate conditions late in the month April runoff totals were generally well below average.
total usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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"total." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/total>

APA Style

total. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/total

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