add up
Britishverb
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to find the sum (of)
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(intr) to result in a correct total
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informal (intr) to make sense
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to amount to
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Amount to an expected or correct total, as in These figures don't add up , meaning they are not correct. [Mid-1800s]
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Be consistent, make sense, as in I'm not sure that all this testimony will add up . [First half of 1900s]
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Assess, form an opinion of, as in He looked across the track and added up the competition . Also see add up to .
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.
For merchants like Amberjack, even a seemingly small increase in the cost per shipment can add up to thousands of dollars each month.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
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
At the premium tier, the cost is the same to add up to two additional members each.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026
Panorama offered to pay for the family to have a day out, and they agreed to add up the cost.
From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026
Each part had 25 points to add up to a hundred and I needed 16.25 out of each part.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
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.