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

Over time, these add up to long terms savings than often can offset times when rents go up. —Roger Valdez, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024

Even so, the Monday after Thanksgiving adds up to billions of dollars in spending. —Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 30 Nov. 2024

This adds up to buying an electric sooner rather than later, agrees auto journalist Ivan Drury, Edmonds director of insights. —Jennifer Jolly, USA TODAY, 26 Nov. 2024

To bridge this gap, the western states would need to add up to 13 gigawatts of transmission capacity and up to 139 gigawatts of generating capacity between 2030 and 2050 — equivalent to almost three times California’s peak demand and costing about $150 billion, per the research. —Sharon Udasin, The Hill, 25 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