Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - total

(totals, totalling, totalled) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. A total is the number that you get when you add several numbers together or when you count how many things there are in a group. The companies have a total of 1,776 employees. N-COUNT 2. The total number or cost of something is the number or cost that you get when you add together or count all the parts in it. The total cost of the project would be more than $240 million. ADJ: ADJ n 3. If there are a number of things in total, there are that number when you count or add them all together. I was with my husband for eight years in total... PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl, amount PHR 4. If several numbers or things total a certain figure, that figure is the total of all the numbers or all the things. The unit’s exports will total $85 million this year... VERB: V amount 5. When you total a set of numbers or objects, you add them all together. They haven’t totalled the exact figures. VERB: V n 6. You can use total to emphasize that something is as great in extent, degree, or amount as it possibly can be. Why should we trust a total stranger?... = complete ADJ: usu ADJ n c darkgreen]emphasis • totally Young people want something totally different from the old ways... = completely ADV: ADV adj/adv, ADV with v