From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtotalto‧tal1 /ˈtəʊtl $ ˈtoʊ-/ ●●● S1 W1 adjective 1 [usually before noun]COMPLETE complete, or as great as is possibletotal failure/disaster The sales campaign was a total disaster. a total ban on cigarette advertising He looked at her with a total lack of comprehension. a sport that demands total commitment2 → total number/amount/cost etc
Examples from the Corpus
total• The union convened in 1873 in Cincinnati and quickly grew to encompass one hundred synagogues, half the national total.• Roller skis provide an excellent total body workout.• The Performing Arts Department's total budget for the year was $6.3 million.• The company was in total chaos before Richards arrived.• The total cost was far higher than we had expected.• But Daedalus wonders what breathable foam would be like as a total environment.• There is much to be said for moving away from total government ownership.• Students have a free choice deciding on five honours subjects, which are chosen from a total list of about thirty.• Four sectors lost a total of 5,300 jobs.• People of Chinese origin made up about 10% of the total population.• Today the rate of increase in food production has exceeded the rate of increase in the total world population.total failure/disaster• Miss Bingham's first band session was rather less than absolutely fabulous; in fact it was a total disaster.• Now she finally had to admit that it had all been a total failure.• The answer may be one or both of these and only a careful rescue package can avert a total disaster.• This work must be well organised and error-free on the night or the result will be total failure.• But they must also provide powerful facilities to reduce the proportion of total failures and to aid demanding and persistent users.• A small indulgence is viewed as a total failure, and uncontrolled rebound eating follows.• The risk of total failure is, of course, part of the price of love.totaltotal2 ●●● S2 W2 noun [countable] 1 TOTALthe final number or amount of things, people etc when everything has been counted That’s £7 and £3.50, so the total is £10.50.a total of 20/100 etc A total of thirteen meetings were held to discuss the issue.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 totalCOLLOCATIONSverbsmake a total of 100 etcThe £1,750 raised by staff has been matched by the company, making a total of £3,500.bring the total to 100 etcPolice arrested more than 200 protesters yesterday, bringing the total detained to nearly 500.add to a totalHe wants to add to his total of three Olympic gold medals.adjectivesthe final totalMrs Menzies said the final total could be as much as £750.the sum total (=the whole of an amount, when everything is added together)This was the sum total of her grandfather's possessions.a combined/overall total (=the sum of two or more amounts added together)The Jones family has a combined total of 143 years' service with the company.an annual/monthly/weekly/daily totalThe Government plans to increase the annual total of 2,500 adoptions by up to 50%. Examples from the Corpus
total• The three defendants were jailed for a total of 30 years.• Sentences were increased from a total of 72 years to 260 years in prison.• Some 250 staff will leave Maddox as a result, leaving a total of approximately 200.• The Colorado researchers tested a total of 104 people in nine families, each with at least two schizophrenics.• David Hunt yesterday welcomed the first 42 projects in a package of aid worth a total of £21.8m.• A total of $950 million was spent on the new transportation system.• The seasonally adjusted total was nevertheless better than expected.• Citation totals - the large numbers of incremental additions to the sum of human knowledge.• This would serve also to reduce the increasingly high percentage of extras in innings totals.• Cambridgeshire are 134 for 6 after 55 in reply to Northants' total of 234 for 4.• If you add 30 and 45 the total is 75.• A company spokesperson said 28,000 jobs or 70% of the total will be cut.• You had 29 points plus 33 points, so the total is 62.a total of 20/100 etc• The annular tank providing the weight was filled with granite chippings, to make a total of 20 tons.• They take the user from very simple counting and progress to adding two numbers up to a total of 20.• More than 40 people went before Judge E.. Mac Amos with a total of 100 misdemeanor offenses.totaltotal3 ●●○ verb (totalled, totalling British English, totaled, totaling American English) 1 [linking verb, transitive]BFTOTAL to reach a particular total The group had losses totalling $3 million this year.RegisterTotal is used especially in journalism. In everyday English, people usually say that something makes or adds up to a particular total:Three and six make nine.2 [transitive] especially American English informalTTCDAMAGE to damage a car so badly that it cannot be repaired Chuck totaled his dad’s new Toyota. → total something ↔ up→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
total• An equivalent drop today would total 1,800 points.• This means that interest payments on a £50,000 mortgage over the past three years totalled £10,682.76.• The number of people included in the study totalled 170.• The company was forced to pay fines and penalties totalling $24.8.• The quantity of hazardous waste sent out-of-state for treatment totals 252,460 metric tons.• Contributions totaled $28,000.• This is some way short of percentages in recent years like 1990 for example, when the amount totalled 30 percent of sales.• Up to four Xplorer systems, totalling 64 processors, also can be connected.• The truck was totaled, but no one was hurt.• Since then, however, there has been a decline in numbers and in 1981-2 enrolments totalled some 5,400.TotalTotal trademark a chain of petrol stations in the UK, owned by the European company TotalFinaElfFrom Longman Business Dictionarytotalto‧tal1 /ˈtəʊtlˈtoʊ-/ adjective [only before a noun] with everything added togetherThe total cost of the project is put at £450 million.a company with total sales of £12 billion last yearHis total income is around £40,000.totaltotal2 noun [countable] the final number or amount of things when everything has been counted or added togetherWhat does the total come to?We expect to raise a total of £3.6 million.The jobless total is steadily increasing.totaltotal3 verb (totalled, totalling British English, totaled, totaling) American English [transitive] to add up to a particular totalLast year their sales totalled £364 million.The company has debts totaling $7.9 million.In order to receive benefits your savings must total less than £6,000.→ See Verb tableOrigin total1 (1300-1400) Old French Medieval Latin totalis, from Latin totus “whole” 