count

1 /kaUnt/ verb

1 SAY NUMBERS also count up (I) to say numbers in their correct order

(+ to): Sarah can count up to five now. | Try to count to ten before you lose your temper.

2 FIND THE TOTAL also count up (T) to count the people, objects, numbers etc in a group in order to find a total: The teacher was counting the children as they got on the bus. | count sheep (=count imaginary sheep as a way of getting to sleep)

3 INCLUDE (T) to include someone or something in a total: There are five people in the family counting my parents. | count sb/sth among: I count Jules and Ady among my closest friends.

4 BE ALLOWED (I, T) to be officially allowed or accepted; valid: Illegible entries do not count.

5 count yourself lucky/fortunate etc to feel that you are lucky etc: After the avalanche we counted ourselves lucky to be alive.

6 IMPORTANT (intransitive not in progressive) to be a very important or valuable thing: First impressions really do count. | count for something/anything/more etc: His promises don't count for much.

7 be able to count sb/sth on (the fingers of) one hand spoken used to emphasize how small the number of something is: You could have counted the number of people in the theater on one hand.

8 don't count your chickens (before they're hatched) especially spoken used to say that you should not make plans because you hope something good will happen: It should be worth a few million, but I don't like to count my chickens.

9 count the cost to start having problems as a result of your earlier decisions or mistakes: We're now counting the cost of not taking out medical insurance.

10 who's counting? used to say that you are not worried about the number of times something happens: "But I always smoke your cigarettes." "No problem, who's counting?"

-see also: stand up and be counted stand 1, it's the thought that counts thought 2 (12) count sb/sth as phrasal verb (I) to consider or regard someone or something in a particular way: For tax purposes this counts as unearned income. count down phrasal verb (I) to record the time passing until an important event happens: We're counting down to our holiday. count sb in phrasal verb (T) informal to include someone in a planned activity: Mark, can we count you in for the cricket team? count on/upon sb/sth phrasal verb (T)

1 to depend on or be certain of someone or something: You can count on my vote. | If I got into trouble I could always count on Rusty. | count on doing sth: We're all counting on winning this contract. | count on sb/sth doing sth: Just don't count on Bev being too thrilled about the news. | count on sb/sth to do sth: You can count on Dean to ruin any party.

2 to plan or expect to do something: count on (sb/sth) doing sth: We didn't count on so many people being on vacation.

count sb/sth out phrasal verb (T)

1 to lay things down one by one as you count them: The teller counted out ten $50 bills.

2 informal to not include someone or something: If you're looking for trouble you can count me out.

2 noun (C)

1 TOTAL the total that you get by counting a particular set of things, or the process of doing this: The vote was so close that we had to have several counts.

2 MEASUREMENT a measurement that shows how much of a substance is present in the area or thing being examined: The pollen count is high today. | a low sperm count

3 at the last count used to give the latest information about a particular situation: At the last count, 46 students were interested in the trip.

4 on all/several etc counts in every way, in several ways etc: Their education policy has failed on several counts.

5 keep count to keep a record of the changing total of something over a period of time: I never manage to keep count of what I spend on the credit card.

6 lose count to forget a number you were calculating or a total you were trying to count: Shut up - you've made me lose count now!

7 be out for the count

a) to be in a deep sleep: There's no point in asking George - he's out for the count.

b) if a boxer (1) is out for the count, he has been knocked down for ten seconds or more

8 LAW technical one of the crimes that someone is charged with: Davis was found not guilty on all counts.

9 RANK/TITLE a European nobleman whose rank is similar to a British earl: the Count of Monte Cristo