total

Everyday

1. The total is the whole amount you get when you add everything up. tree →
2. Total as an adjective means whole or complete: «total cost», «total silence». tree →
3. To total is to add up to an amount: «The bill totals 20 dollars». tree →
4. (casual) To total a car is to wreck it so badly it cannot be fixed. tree →
5. (casual) «Totally» or «totes» (slang) means completely, yes for sure. tree →
6. (rude) «a total idiot», «a total disaster» use total to make an insult stronger. tree →
7. (formal) Exams say «the aggregate», «the sum total», «the cumulative total» or «in its entirety». tree →

In the lessons

the sum of all the parts; «in total» usually means add; a total score adds up all the points; phrases: «in total», «the total cost», «a total of», «grand total», «running total»; in casual talk «totally», «totes», «he totalled his car»; in rough talk «you total muppet», «total rip-off»; in the exam voice «the aggregate amount», «compute the sum total», «the cumulative expenditure»

Examples

• How many cards did Ben buy in total? tree →
• The total cost is 12 cents. tree →
• There are 30 children in total, and 14 are boys. tree →
• The total of 4, 5 and 6 is 15. tree →
• Our team scored a total of 42 points. tree →
• The shopping totalled 18 dollars. tree →
• The library was in total silence. tree →
• Keep a running total of the money you save. tree →
• Totes worth it, 3 for 5 bucks. tree →
• 20 bucks for chips? Total rip-off. tree →
• Compute the aggregate expenditure incurred across the three purchases of 4, 5 and 6 dollars. tree →
• My uncle totalled his car but nobody was hurt. tree →
• Once out in the current my raft flew swiftly under the gloomy archway, and I found myself in total darkness, carried smoothly forward by the rapid river. tree →

Note

«in total» usually means add. Trap: if the total is given, a missing part is total − the known part. «aggregate», «sum total», «cumulative» in an exam mean the total. «totalled a car» means wrecked it, not added anything. Spelling: totalled (UK), totaled (USA).

In Jewish tradition

the sum of all the parts; «in total» usually means add; a total score adds up all the points; phrases: «in total», «the total cost», «a total of», «grand total», «running total»; in casual talk «totally», «totes», «he totalled his car»; in rough talk «you total muppet», «total rip-off»; in the exam voice «the aggregate amount», «compute the sum total», «the cumulative expenditure»

Examples

• Proceeding in the same way with ;, we shall obtain 10,648 quadriliterals beginning with 3, and so forth with the remaining letters, which would give a total of •2"2*, or •234,256. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
• As is well-known, some old grammarians, among whom was the author of the "Dikduke ha-Teamim"" counted the final letters as separate letters, thus making the total number oi the letters of the alphabet twenty-seven. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →

Note

«in total» usually means add. Trap: if the total is given, a missing part is total − the known part. «aggregate», «sum total», «cumulative» in an exam mean the total. «totalled a car» means wrecked it, not added anything. Spelling: totalled (UK), totaled (USA).