total

Universal Words adjective, noun, verb adjective [usuallybeforenoun] 1 being the amount or number after everyone or everything is counted or added together: the total profit * This brought the total number of accidents so far this year to 113. * The club has a total membership of about 300. 2 complete; including everything: The room was in total darkness. * They demanded a total ban on handguns. * The evening was a total disaster! * I can't believe you'd tell a total stranger about it! * These comments indicate a total lack of understanding. noun the amount you get when you add several numbers or amounts together; the final number of people or things when they have all been counted: You got 47 points on the written examination and 18 on the oral, making a total of 65. * His businesses are worth a combined total of $3 billion. * Out of a total of 15 games, they only won 2. * The repairs came to over ｣500 in total (= including everything). seealsoGRANDTOTAL, RUNNINGTOTAL, SUMTOTAL verb (-ll-, AmE also -l-) 1 [V-N] to reach a particular total: Imports totalled $1.5 billion last year. 2 [VN] ~ sth/sb (up) to add up the numbers of sth/sb and get a total: Each student's points were totalled and entered in a list. 3 [VN] (informal, especially AmE) to damage a car very badly, so that is not worth repairing it seealsoWRITESTHOFF