totaled or totalled; totaling or totalling
Examples of total in a Sentence
Adjective
a total lack of support
a total eclipse of the sun
He demanded total control of the project.
What was the total amount of the bill?
the total number of words
The country has a total population of about 100 million.
Noun
a total of 25 square miles
that's the total for our wheat harvest this year
Verb
He carefully totaled the bill.
two and two total four
Recent Examples on the Web
Ritika Gupta, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2025
The state also limited preseason contact drills to six hours total and banned spring and summer practices.
—Alana Semuels, Time, 20 Oct. 2025
Erin Clements, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
In 2003, Lady Annabel and her ex-husband marked the 40th anniversary of Annabel’s with two private dinners for a total of 320 friends and the guest list read like a Who’s Who of 20th century society.
—Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 18 Oct. 2025
Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 19 Oct. 2025
Napier was also 0-2 against Miami, including a 26-7 September loss in which Florida totaled only 61 passing yards, its lowest since the 2014 defeat against South Carolina that cost Will Muschamp his job.
—Matt Baker, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 27 Aug. 2025
Hot 100 and 45 weeks total on the chart.
—Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 25 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for total
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show current usage.
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Adjective
This summer, Newsom increased the total film and TV tax credit to $750 million in California, nearly doubling the previous cap, in a bid to encourage more productions to film in Los Angeles.
—Ritika Gupta, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2025
The state also limited preseason contact drills to six hours total and banned spring and summer practices.
—Alana Semuels, Time, 20 Oct. 2025
Noun
Past years have already raised more than $40 million total for FIU.
—Erin Clements, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
In 2003, Lady Annabel and her ex-husband marked the 40th anniversary of Annabel’s with two private dinners for a total of 320 friends and the guest list read like a Who’s Who of 20th century society.
—Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 18 Oct. 2025
Verb
Missouri was tagged for only four penalties, but those flags totaled 50 yards.
—Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 19 Oct. 2025
Napier was also 0-2 against Miami, including a 26-7 September loss in which Florida totaled only 61 passing yards, its lowest since the 2014 defeat against South Carolina that cost Will Muschamp his job.
—Matt Baker, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
Adverb
Collecting three weeks total atop the Billboard 200, Eternal Sunshine got a second life earlier this year with a deluxe edition released a few months after the November premiere of Wicked.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 27 Aug. 2025
Hot 100 and 45 weeks total on the chart.
—Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 25 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for total
Cite this Entry
“Total.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/total. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
total
1 of 3 adjective
to·tal
ˈtōt-ᵊl 
1
: of or relating to the whole of something
a total eclipse of the sun
2
: making up the whole
the total amount
3
: being such to the fullest degree
total ruin
4
: making use of every means to do something
total war
total
2 of 3 noun1
: a product of addition : sum
2
: an entire amount
total
3 of 3 verb
totaled or totalled; totaling or totalling
1
2
: to amount to
donations totaled $120
3
: to make a total wreck of
totaled the car
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