- total
- 1
adjective
1 (only before noun) complete, and affecting or including everything: The sales campaign was a total disaster. | a total ban on cigarette advertising2 total number/amount/cost etc the number, amount etc that is the total: total sales of 200,000 per year2 noun (C)1 the final number or amount of things, people etc when everything has been counted: If you add 30 and 45 the total is 75. | a total of: They were jailed for a total of thirty years. | in total: There were probably about 40 people there in total. | the sum total (=the whole of an amount when everything is considered together)2 grand totala) the final total, including all the totals added togetherb) humorous used when you think the final total is small: I earned a grand total of $4.15.3 verb totalled, totalling BrE, totaled, totaling AmE1 (transitive, linking verb) to reach a particular total: losses totalling $3 million2 (T) AmE informal to damage a car so badly that it cannot be repaired: Chuck ran into a telephone pole and totaled his dad's new Toyota.total sth up phrasal verb (T) to find the total number or total amount of something by adding: At the end of the game total up everyone's score to see who has won.
Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.