add up

verb

added up; adding up; adds up

intransitive verb

1

a

: to come to the expected total

the bill doesn't add up

b

: to form an intelligible pattern : make sense

her story just doesn't add up

2

a

: amount sense 1b

—used with to

the play adds up to a lot of laughs

b

: to amount to a lot

just a little each time, but it all adds up

transitive verb

: to form an opinion of

added him up at a glance

Synonyms

• amount (to)
• come (to)
• correspond (to)
• emulate
• equal

Examples of add up in a Sentence

whether we take the 4:00 train or the 4:15 bus, it adds up to the same thing: they both get us back too late

even if we pool all our money, it won't add up to enough to rent a beach house for a week

Recent Examples on the Web

But all that data - dozens of tables that land every month on a government website - doesn’t add up to insight that can be used to guide policymaking. —Jennifer Tescher, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024

Mandatory programs like those added up to 69% of non-interest federal spending in 2023. —Neil Irwin, Axios, 20 Nov. 2024

The math adds up because the ballots add up, and the election officials have shown their work. —David Becker, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2024

In the meantime, the planes have their own role to play in supporting environmental and climate research: each season, about 50% of the people White Desert transports to the continent are scientists, which adds up to around 150 scientists a year. —Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 2

Kids Definition

add up

verb

1

a

: to come to a total and especially the expected total

b

: to make sense

her story just doesn't add up

2

: to amount to a lot

just a little each time, but it all adds up