to tote up
- phrasal verb
- /toʊt ʌp/
- UK
- Every one of them is getting ready to fistfuck God's ex-planet... ...lick their fingers clean... ...as they reach out toward their pristine... ...cybernetic keyboards... ...to tote up their fucking billable hours.
Examples
-
After the fundraiser, we will tote up the total donations received.
-
He spent months and months measuring snails and toting up columns of figures sans computer, the worst sort of scientific drudgery.
Academic text (1991) -
The golf shop lights reflected out around the edges of its half-closed shutters, and the shopkeeper could be glimpsed deep within, toting up figures, preparing to close up and go home.
Fiction book (1996) -
The accountant had to tote up all the expenses before submitting the report.
-
She took an hour to tote up the scores from the game before announcing the winner.
Synonyms
Put numbers or amounts together to find their total
To add two or more numbers to find their total
Find the total of several numbers
To add numbers together to find the whole amount
Collect small amounts until they become a larger total
To count or add things like points and votes
To calculate the total of two or more numbers by putting them together
Add several numbers to find the total
To add numbers together to find the total
Add numbers in a column to find the total
To add a group of numbers to find the total
To add small amounts together to make a total
How Formal
Surface Forms
Morphology
tote + up
The literal meanings of the constituents ('tote' = to carry; 'up' = toward a higher/completive position) do not transparently yield the sense 'to calculate the total'. Although the particle 'up' can signal completion, the connection between carrying and arithmetic totaling is metaphorically remote and not predictable for a B1 learner, so prior exposure is needed.
Etymology
Tote up comes from tote, which meant 'to carry', and up, which means 'together' or 'finished'. Picture someone carrying coins and pouring them into one pile to count, so tote up means 'to add everything together'.