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
Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 5 May 2026
Check if gratuity is already included; if not, a $5–$10 tip or 10% of the total bill is generally appropriate as a baseline.
—Cori Sears, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 May 2026
Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 11 May 2026
After some counting—and the consulting of an Excel spreadsheet—the officers determined that Silvia and Guojun were the parents of twenty-one children in total, nearly all under the age of three.
—Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 11 May 2026
Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 7 May 2026
It would be joined by a slate of other retail and office space, totaling more than 650,000 square feet, according to social media posts from Ahlquist’s development firm of the same name.
—Rose Evans
updated May 6, Idaho Statesman, 6 May 2026
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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Adjective
Injuries — including a second knee surgery — limited Embiid to 57 total games over the past two seasons, including 38 in 2025-26.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 5 May 2026
Check if gratuity is already included; if not, a $5–$10 tip or 10% of the total bill is generally appropriate as a baseline.
—Cori Sears, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 May 2026
Noun
The United States has agreed to provide a total of $38 billion in military aid to Israel from 2018 to 2028.
—Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 11 May 2026
After some counting—and the consulting of an Excel spreadsheet—the officers determined that Silvia and Guojun were the parents of twenty-one children in total, nearly all under the age of three.
—Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 11 May 2026
Verb
The 6-8 Barlow, who averaged just under nine postseason minutes per game off the bench entering Game 2, totaled 16 minutes Wednesday.
—Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 7 May 2026
It would be joined by a slate of other retail and office space, totaling more than 650,000 square feet, according to social media posts from Ahlquist’s development firm of the same name.
—Rose Evans
updated May 6, Idaho Statesman, 6 May 2026
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 11 May. 2026.
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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