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
Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 14 Jan. 2026
He’s rushed for 1,031 yards combined over the past two seasons, with 22 total touchdowns, while averaging nearly 4 yards per carry.
—Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Jan. 2026
Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 12 Jan. 2026
Arkansas finished with 28 total.
—Arkansas Online, 12 Jan. 2026
CBS News, 13 Jan. 2026
The condo was built in 1988 and the living area totals 1,284 square feet.
—Bay Area Home Report, Mercury News, 13 Jan. 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
These include processors with a total processing performance below 21,000 and total DRAM bandwidth under 6,500 gigabytes per second.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 14 Jan. 2026
He’s rushed for 1,031 yards combined over the past two seasons, with 22 total touchdowns, while averaging nearly 4 yards per carry.
—Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Jan. 2026
Noun
One Battle After Another led the show's nominations with nine in total, including Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and nods for his costars Chase Infiniti, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Teyana Taylor, who won Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture.
—Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 12 Jan. 2026
Arkansas finished with 28 total.
—Arkansas Online, 12 Jan. 2026
Verb
The game was especially chippy, as the teams combined for 21 penalties, totaling 78 minutes.
—CBS News, 13 Jan. 2026
The condo was built in 1988 and the living area totals 1,284 square feet.
—Bay Area Home Report, Mercury News, 13 Jan. 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 15 Jan. 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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