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 of add up

• 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

These small transgressions added up to a sense of ourselves as special, exempt from the rules—but also disliked, distrusted, untrustworthy, apart. — Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026

The Villena Treasure includes 66 items, including 11 gold bowls, 28 gold bracelets, and more, adding up to about 10 kg (22 pounds) of gold. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 30 Sep. 2026

Together, these steps could add up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of sea-level rise from Antarctica alone by 2100 – enough to permanently flood the homes of more than 10 million people. — Robert Kopp, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026

Schwartz says all of that adds up to 700 hours of live sports this year, up from zero just a few years ago. — Michael Schneider, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026

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