1
: an indefinite or specified amount of money
2
: the whole amount : aggregate
3
: the utmost degree : summit
reached the sum of human happiness
4
5
a(1)
: the result of adding numbers
the sum of 5 and 7 is 12
(2)
: the limit of the sum of the first n terms of an infinite series as n increases indefinitely
b
: numbers to be added
broadly
: a problem in arithmetic
c(1)
(2)
Synonyms
Examples of sum in a Sentence
Verb
can sum figures in his head faster than I can punch them into a calculator
Recent Examples on the Web
Alina Selyukh, NPR, 29 Mar. 2024
The total score for each city is calculated by summing the weighted scores for each of these metric.
—The Courier-Journal, 16 Mar. 2024
To sum it up, employees cannot save, store or hold hot ticket items for later purchases which takes away from customers.
—Tamara Walker, The Enquirer, 26 Jan. 2024
Nothing summed that reality up quite like the divisional round.
—Nate Atkins, The Indianapolis Star, 25 Jan. 2024
To sum it up in a sentence: Resilience is the ability to manage stress in effective ways.
—Rachel Goldsmith Turow, Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2024
Ofer Sharone, a professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who researches career transitions and trends, sums it up in one word: stigma.
—Karla L. Miller, Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2024
In the photos, Banks smiles, dresses up in a poofy pink dress, draws on herself with crayons and eats a melting ice cream cone as her proud mom sums her feelings up in a lengthy caption.
—Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 25 Oct. 2023
The candidates had two minutes to make opening remarks, then take questions, then sum it up.
—Compiled By Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2023
Keith Caulfield, Billboard, 14 Apr. 2024
The Goldmans were awarded a judgment of $33.5 million, though Simpson only ever paid a small fraction of the sum.
—Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024
This is a trivial sum for a railroad corporation posting profits in the billions each year.
—Pete Buttigieg, TIME, 10 Apr. 2024
The multimillion-dollar settlement is an unusually large sum, even for the lawsuit-prone Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which last year — between settlements, judgements and legal fees — cost taxpayers $150 million to defend.
—Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
Several venture and banking executives said Tuesday that the sale to Empower was likely for a comparatively small sum.
—Luisa Beltran, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2024
Such a sum would signal that investors have a growing appetite for money-losing companies as the IPO market comes back to life.
—Laura Bratton, Quartz, 8 Apr. 2024
This process involves vast sums of tax revenue that states are owed but never collect.
—Matt Stevens, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
The 14-figure sums can be broken down into three types of travel transactions, Bloomberg notes.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 5 Apr. 2024
Verb
To sum it up, cocoa prices have more than doubled in the first three months of the year and more than tripled in the past 12 months.
—Alina Selyukh, NPR, 29 Mar. 2024
The total score for each city is calculated by summing the weighted scores for each of these metric.
—The Courier-Journal, 16 Mar. 2024
To sum it up, employees cannot save, store or hold hot ticket items for later purchases which takes away from customers.
—Tamara Walker, The Enquirer, 26 Jan. 2024
Nothing summed that reality up quite like the divisional round.
—Nate Atkins, The Indianapolis Star, 25 Jan. 2024
To sum it up in a sentence: Resilience is the ability to manage stress in effective ways.
—Rachel Goldsmith Turow, Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2024
Ofer Sharone, a professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who researches career transitions and trends, sums it up in one word: stigma.
—Karla L. Miller, Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2024
In the photos, Banks smiles, dresses up in a poofy pink dress, draws on herself with crayons and eats a melting ice cream cone as her proud mom sums her feelings up in a lengthy caption.
—Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 25 Oct. 2023
The candidates had two minutes to make opening remarks, then take questions, then sum it up.
—Compiled By Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2023
Noun
Of that sum, SEA units comprise 105,000 (equaling 137.95 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs), album sales comprise 9,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000.
—Keith Caulfield, Billboard, 14 Apr. 2024
The Goldmans were awarded a judgment of $33.5 million, though Simpson only ever paid a small fraction of the sum.
—Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024
This is a trivial sum for a railroad corporation posting profits in the billions each year.
—Pete Buttigieg, TIME, 10 Apr. 2024
The multimillion-dollar settlement is an unusually large sum, even for the lawsuit-prone Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which last year — between settlements, judgements and legal fees — cost taxpayers $150 million to defend.
—Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
Several venture and banking executives said Tuesday that the sale to Empower was likely for a comparatively small sum.
—Luisa Beltran, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2024
Such a sum would signal that investors have a growing appetite for money-losing companies as the IPO market comes back to life.
—Laura Bratton, Quartz, 8 Apr. 2024
This process involves vast sums of tax revenue that states are owed but never collect.
—Matt Stevens, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
The 14-figure sums can be broken down into three types of travel transactions, Bloomberg notes.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 5 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sum.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near sum
Cite this Entry
“Sum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sum. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sum
1 of 2 noun1
: an indefinite or specified amount of money
2
: the whole amount
the sum of your experience
3
a
: a summary of the chief points or thoughts
b
: the main point
the sum and substance of an argument
4
a
: the result of adding numbers
the sum of 5 and 7 is 12
b
: a problem in arithmetic
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