the sum total
noun
: the whole amount : the entire total of something
—usually + of
The sum total of the payments will be $28,000.
That's the sum total of what I know about cars.
Examples of the sum total in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Those beans in your kitchen are the sum total of a complex series of interactions between international corporations, roasters, shippers, marketers, wholesalers, and even the growers who put the seeds in the ground.
—
Jaina Grey, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2024
But the sum total of Ruscha’s work, its intelligence, sophistication and graphic excellence, is consistently impressive.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 5 Dec. 2023
That number, the sum total of all of Google’s search distribution deals, came out during the Justice Department’s cross-examination of Google’s search head, Prabhakar Raghavan.
—David Pierce, The Verge, 27 Oct. 2023
Yet fewer categories contributing to the sum total doesn’t necessarily guarantee lower costs.
—Nerd Wallet, oregonlive, 9 July 2023
My true friends, a number less than the sum total of my not-so-nimble fingers, all would.
—Teresa M. Hanafin, BostonGlobe.com, 3 May 2023
Between now and June 1 - the date by which the Treasury Department could run out of sufficient cash - President Joe Biden and members of the House and Senate are scheduled to be in town at the same time for the sum total of one week.
—Steven T. Dennis, Anchorage Daily News, 2 May 2023
So, the sum total of all the activities that one does, which lead to the release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, is known as the carbon footprint.
—Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 26 Apr. 2023
On the basis of these numbers, the sum total of human knowledge, as data, would, in the year 2020, be about a dozen petabytes.
—Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023
Jaina Grey, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2024
But the sum total of Ruscha’s work, its intelligence, sophistication and graphic excellence, is consistently impressive.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 5 Dec. 2023
That number, the sum total of all of Google’s search distribution deals, came out during the Justice Department’s cross-examination of Google’s search head, Prabhakar Raghavan.
—David Pierce, The Verge, 27 Oct. 2023
Yet fewer categories contributing to the sum total doesn’t necessarily guarantee lower costs.
—Nerd Wallet, oregonlive, 9 July 2023
My true friends, a number less than the sum total of my not-so-nimble fingers, all would.
—Teresa M. Hanafin, BostonGlobe.com, 3 May 2023
Between now and June 1 - the date by which the Treasury Department could run out of sufficient cash - President Joe Biden and members of the House and Senate are scheduled to be in town at the same time for the sum total of one week.
—Steven T. Dennis, Anchorage Daily News, 2 May 2023
So, the sum total of all the activities that one does, which lead to the release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, is known as the carbon footprint.
—Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 26 Apr. 2023
On the basis of these numbers, the sum total of human knowledge, as data, would, in the year 2020, be about a dozen petabytes.
—Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the sum total.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near the sum total
Cite this Entry
“The sum total.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20sum%20total. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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