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tot up

B1 informal separable transitive
In simple words

To add up lots of small numbers or amounts to get a total.

Meanings

1 B1 informal

To add together a number of individual amounts to produce a final total.

"When she totted up all her monthly outgoings, she realised she was spending far too much."

Grammar: separable
2 B1 informal

To amount to a total when all items are added together.

"The repairs totted up to well over a thousand pounds."

Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes

Chiefly British English. Commonly used when totalling a bill, a list of costs, or points in a game. Also used in the expression 'tot up to' meaning to amount to a total. The origin relates to an archaic use of 'tot' as a verb meaning to add up.

Commonly used with

bill costs points score expenses debt

Forms

Base
tot up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
tots up
he/she/it
Past simple
toted up
yesterday
Past participle
toted up
have + pp
-ing form
toting up
continuous

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Synonyms

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