amount

verb \ ə-ˈmau̇nt \

|Updated on: 14 Jul 2018

Usage guide: amount vs. number

Examples: amount in a Sentence

Definition of amount

amounted; amounting; amounts

intransitive verb

1 a : to be the same in meaning or effect as

acts that amount to treason

b : to reach in kind or quality : to turn out to be

wanted her son to amount to something [=to be successful]

The changes don't really amount to much. [=are not really substantial or significant]

2 : to reach a total : add up

The bill amounts to $10.

See amount defined for English-language learners

See amount defined for kids

Recent Examples of amount from the Web

What’s worrying is that Trump is willing to gamble with people’s livelihoods to play what amounts to a big game of chicken, which means an escalation may be inevitable.

— alex shephard, The New Republic, "Why Trump Might Lose His Trade War With China," 9 July 2018
Burbey gave what amounted to a farewell address to the school board during the public comment period early in the June 11 meeting.

— allan vought, The Aegis, "Moving back to classroom, Harford teachers union leader steps down," 6 July 2018
Most end up doing what amounts to subsistence farming.

— The Economist, "Culture and the labour market keep India’s women at home," 5 July 2018
Visitors, workers and downtown residents are embracing what amounts to a scooter invasion, as public officials scramble to catch up with the latest disruptive technology to hit the streets since drones.

— megan henry, Indianapolis Star, "Hundreds of electric scooters invade downtown Indianapolis; some rejoice, others scratch their heads," 1 July 2018
Amazon’s Show Mode aims at creating what amounts to a mobile experience with the Echo Show by using its Fire HD tablets.

— don reisinger, Fortune, "Amazon Is Converting Your Fire HD Tablet Into an Echo Show—for Free," 28 June 2018
Less than a year after launching the accounts as a loving gag, Takahashi has built what might amount to the most complete contemporary picture of day-to-day American behavior, a kind of crowdsourced Kinsey report on municipal perversity.

— ian bogost, The Atlantic, "What Petty Nextdoor Posts Reveal About America," 20 June 2018
While the game wasn’t given a robust demo at E3 itself, what amounted to a promotional documentary released during Bethesda's press conference revealed several details.

— kyle orland, sam machkovech, Ars Technica, "The top ten games from E3 2018," 19 June 2018
Mercedes has a wagon, and Toyota had what amounted to a Camry wagon in its recent Venza crossover, but that one was discontinued after the 2017 model year.

— star-telegram, "Jaguar introduces the XF Sportbrakefor 2018, bringing a wagon to the U.S.," 17 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'amount.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of amount

Middle English, from Anglo-French amounter, from amount upward, from a- (from Latin ad-) + mont mountain — more at mount

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

amount

noun

Definition of amount

1 a : the total number or quantity : aggregate

trying to figure the amount of time it will take

b : the quantity at hand or under consideration

has an enormous amount of energy

2 : the whole effect, significance, or import

3 accounting : a principal sum and the interest on it

See amount defined for English-language learners

amount vs. number

Number is regularly used with count nouns

- a large number of mistakes
- any number of times

while amount is mainly used with mass nouns.

- annual amount of rainfall
- a substantial amount of money

The use of amount with count nouns has been frequently criticized; it usually occurs when the number of things is thought of as a mass or collection