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Glite Dictionary
to do the numbers

to do the numbers

1 4.8
To calculate the money and costs to see if something is affordable
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : hacer cuentas
  • But when my wife counters with reasonable-sounding statements like "We can afford the larger payment if we do this, this, this, and this," I don't know whether they're reasonable or not because I haven't done the numbers.

They first allocate capital, they do the numbers and then later they talk about talent and people assignment.

Examples

  • They first allocate capital, they do the numbers and then later they talk about talent and people assignment.

    Big Think

  • I I think there's a question about what do the numbers mean if the costs and benefits are not comparably monetized.

  • Glad to see someone is doing the numbers on this.

    Blog text (11)

  • If you do the numbers, it will turn out something like this:

    Blog text (4)

  • Oh my, let me, let me do the numbers here and you'll see that it's a lot better.

  • So now after this was all focused on the first month after the award, we still what do the numbers look like when we extend this time horizon?

  • Frazer and Gould are putting Never Say No into rehearsal... and I'm doing the numbers.

    Footlight Parade (1933)

  • "When you're talking about 90 million feral cats, if you just assume that a third of them are successful and you do the numbers, you come away with, 'Holy crap.'

    Blog text (15)

  • OK, so let's say if you put one MB, MB of SRAM in your in your chip, so you do the numbers, you get a Sigma close to five.

  • Before making any investments, it's important to do the numbers to ensure profitability.

Synonyms

to calculate
vsto do the numbers
210 2.8

To work out an amount using maths or a calculator

is narrower, focusing on practical financial feasibility and profit
to work out
vsto do the numbers
122 2.8

To calculate a number or total from given facts

is applied especially to financial profit and feasibility analysis
to do the math
vsto do the numbers
  • US
71 4.4

Calculate the numbers to see if something is worth it

is focused on financial details and profitability evaluation
to crunch numbers
vsto do the numbers
21 3.7

To do calculations and study numbers quickly

is used to assess financial feasibility rather than fast calculation

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

How Thoroughly

to audit
  • Specialized
17 4.2
to analyze
  • US
675 3.2
to do the numbers
1 4.8
to calculate
210 2.8
to estimate
765 2.8

Surface Forms

do the numbers infinitive
did the numbers past
done the numbers past participle
doing the numbers present participle
does the numbers third person singular

Morphology

do + the + number

The sense 'to calculate or analyze figures' follows directly from 'do' (perform/carry out) combined with 'numbers' (figures/data), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer the meaning. This is a common light-verb construction (similar to 'do the math') and is cross-linguistically natural, making it readily comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The phrase do the numbers comes from the simple image of someone writing down and adding up costs on paper or a calculator, with do meaning 'work on' and numbers the totals. That's why it now means 'to calculate or check financial details' before making a decision.