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Definition of sum noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

  1.  
     [countable] sum (of something) an amount of money
    • You will be fined the sum of £200.
    • a large sum of money
    • The judge awarded them an undisclosed six-figure sum in damages.
    • Huge sums have been invested in this project.
    • The team has raised substantial sums for local charities.
    see also capital sum, lump sum
    Extra Examples
    • £200 was an astronomical sum of money in 1547.
    • For his first book he received the princely sum of $400.
    • He joined the club two years ago for a record sum.
    • It seemed an absurdly high sum to pay for a coat.
    • Some of the paintings should fetch a tidy sum at today's auction.
    • The charity pays a nominal sum to lease the premises.
    • The gangsters offered him a sum equivalent to a whole year's earnings.
    • The landlord has the right to recover any sums payable under this lease.
    • We eventually agreed a sum and I gave him a cheque.
    • You will have to go to court to recover these sums.
    • a project that cost vast sums of public money
    Topics Moneyb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • considerable
    • generous
    • good
    • …
    verb + sum
    • borrow
    • earn
    • fetch
    • …
    sum + verb
    • be due
    • be payable
    • be equal to something
    • …
    phrases
    • a sum of money
    See full entry
  2. [countable, usually singular] sum (of something) the number you get when you add two or more numbers together
    • The sum of 7 and 12 is 19.
    • Calculate the sum of the following figures.
    Topics Maths and measurementb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + sum
    • calculate
    • find
    • work out
    • …
    preposition
    • sum of
    phrases
    • greater, less, more, etc. than the sum of its/​the parts
    See full entry
  3. (also sum total)
     [singular] the sum of something all of something, especially when you think that it is not very much
    • This is the sum of my achievements so far.
  4. [countable] a simple problem that involves calculating numbers
    • to do a sum in your head
    • I was good at sums at school.
    • If I've got my sums right, I should be able to afford the rent.
    Extra Examples
    • I did a quick sum to work out how much it would cost.
    • The company got its sums wrong when estimating how many customers it would attract.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • difficult
    • easy
    verb + sum
    • do
    phrases
    • get your sums right/​wrong
    See full entry
    5. see also dim sum
    Word OriginMiddle English: via Old French from Latin summa ‘main part, sum total’, feminine of summus ‘highest’.
Idioms
be greater/more than the sum of its parts
  1. to be better or more effective as a group than you would think just by looking at the individual members of the group
    • The team is greater than the sum of its parts.
in sum
  1. (formal) used to introduce a short statement of the main points of a discussion, speech, etc.
    • In sum, we have no chance of winning the case.
See sum in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee sum in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: sum

Nearby words

hat-trick
noun
 
 
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