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

• come (to)
• correspond (to)
• amount (to)

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

Content: Script quality, production speed, localization timelines, storyline retention—these all add up fast. —Anatolii Kasianov, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025

All of this adds up to a much more expressive and human-sounding conversation than previous technologies could offer. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 1 July 2025

Even so, that only added up to 49 yay votes, versus 51 nays from the rest of the GOP conference, meaning the amendment failed. —Erin Doherty, CNBC, 30 June 2025

That adds up to $768,000 for just that one operation, but authorities estimate their smuggling ring netted at least $13,000 in less than a year. —Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 28 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 2

Rhymes for add up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

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