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Meaning of amount in English:

amount

Pronunciation /??ma?nt/

See synonyms for amount

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noun

  • 1A quantity of something, especially the total of a thing or things in number, size, value, or extent.

    ‘sport gives an enormous amount of pleasure to many people’
    • ‘the substance is harmless if taken in small amounts’
    • ‘Well, if the universe is flat, this tells us something about the total amount of mass and energy in it.’
    • ‘The first period totalled up a paltry amount of three genuine opportunities.’
    • ‘If it is prolonged and performance is affected, this will affect the total amount of coverage we get.’
    • ‘Lorries were seen as a particular risk due to their size and the amount of chemicals they could be carrying.’
    • ‘This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives.’
    • ‘This is in total contrast to the amount of walking or exercise involving the use of the legs.’
    • ‘In the first half of pregnancy it is normal for the total amount of thyroid hormone to be slightly increased.’
    • ‘Also important are the factors that control the total amount of water in the body at any particular time.’
    • ‘The total amount of sunlight energy over all of the spectrum is important in heating vines and soils.’
    • ‘Not only was the total amount of tuber starch reduced, but its composition was also affected.’
    • ‘The extent and the amount of the work involved was not defined in the Contract.’
    • ‘What was a reasonable amount of time to wait for a chicken burger to be prepared, anyway?’
    • ‘Purchases must be fit for their purpose - they should work for a reasonable amount of time.’
    • ‘Hopefully my legs will permit a reasonable amount of wandering about places of interest.’
    • ‘One of the joys of working in Manchester is that you can walk from one end to the other in a reasonable amount of time.’
    • ‘I think, if we know we have a reasonable amount of work on the books, we'll take it.’
    • ‘There is no denying that one of the major causes of obesity is the amount of food that we eat and the portion sizes.’
    • ‘The swept volume is the amount of volume that the piston moves through as it moves up and down.’
    • ‘In places you cannot see the spring shoots which are beginning to peep through because of the amount of rubbish.’
    • ‘If you live in a built-up area, you have to expect a certain amount of noise.’
    quantity, number, total, aggregate, sum, quota, group, size, mass, weight, volume, bulk, load, consignment
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    1. 1.1A sum of money.
      ‘they have spent a colossal amount rebuilding the stadium’
      • ‘The government had set aside significant amounts of money to rebuild the city, but inflation meant that this was still not enough.’
      • ‘Drivers contribute huge amounts of money to the government through road tax, tax on car sales, and we all know about fuel duty.’
      • ‘In recent elections soft money has become a way for wealthy individuals to contribute large amounts of money to the political parties.’
      • ‘This is important because longstanding disciplinary processes cost the country huge amounts of money.’
      • ‘Experience has shown us that the best way to sustain partnership is to contribute small amounts of money on a regular basis.’
      • ‘Having expended large amounts of money on multiculturalism, they are hardly likely to criticise it.’
      • ‘By donating large amounts of money, wealthy individuals are able to signal their economic prowess.’
      • ‘So with the aim of contracting for projects, the constructor spends huge amounts of money on bribes.’
      • ‘The numbers of delinquents and the estimated amounts of tax money involved have not been detailed.’
      • ‘Careful money management rather than throwing vast amounts of sums of money at the problem is certainly a key way forward.’
      • ‘The dome is not the only monstrous carbuncle currently swallowing obscene amounts of public money.’
      • ‘Feel free to spend inordinate amounts of money and fund my house survey.’
      • ‘It says this is costing substantial amounts of money which would otherwise be used on patient care.’
      • ‘They didn't get all they asked for I might say, but they got specific amounts of money for specific purposes.’
      • ‘We are losing vast amounts of tax money, as well as the respect of the people.’
      • ‘Administration, equipment and maintaining venues cost huge amounts of money.’
      • ‘You never know when something will pay off, and for the trivial amounts of money it costs, the returns are enormous.’
      • ‘Massive amounts of money were spent helping the airlines fund new security precautions.’
      • ‘These will see the fund paying out reasonable compensations instead of huge amounts of money as is presently done.’
      • ‘I mean, we bring in millions of dollars in terms of research money, huge amounts.’
      fee, price, tariff, amount, sum, figure, fare, rate, payment, toll, levy
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verb

[no object]amount to

  • 1Come to be (the total) when added together.

    ‘losses amounted to over 10 million pounds’
    • ‘Furthermore, every employee will be given a significant stake in the company, amounting in total to one-tenth of its value.’
    • ‘They amounted respectively to ￡151,065 (together with interest) and ￡127,000.’
    • ‘The exceptions are practically all African and Arab countries, amounting altogether to only a tenth of the world's population.’
    • ‘After the air attacks began, refugee movements multiplied exponentially, amounting ultimately to more than half the population of the province, with another third listed as internally displaced from their homes.’
    • ‘The orders and output surge this past year in a number of high-technology industries, amounting in some cases to 50 percent and more, was not sustainable even in the more optimistic new economy scenarios.’
    • ‘In due course the owners were presented by the Port Authority with a bill for the use of the tugs which amounted in all to JD254, 400, equivalent to approximately US $375,000.’
    • ‘Those low cost products are amounting to something like half a trillion dollars in deficit every year.’
    • ‘It amounts to little more than 40 companies working in three buildings in the Liberties.’
    • ‘All of this amounts to eight billion dollars in lost revenue for the federal government.’
    • ‘In contrast, the typical cost of the coffee in a cup of your favourite brew probably amounts to as little as six pence.’
    • ‘It only amounts to one and a half hours, and we are compensating for that removal by putting it elsewhere in the week.’
    • ‘The original drawing amounts to only about one-eighth of the total composition.’
    • ‘This amounts to some 28 million tonnes per year, or almost half a tonne per person.’
    • ‘Traders say it might not sound much but the extra costs amounts to an extra ￡400 a year.’
    • ‘In real terms, this amounts to an extra two cases of cancer a year among half a per cent of the population.’
    • ‘It amounts to a huge amount of money and jobs both ways every single year.’
    • ‘As one diplomat pointed out, that amounts to three weeks' oil profits for the government.’
    • ‘The liability of the contracts of employment amounts to many hundreds of thousands of pounds.’
    • ‘Essentially this amounts to a thirteen hour time difference from how I live in London.’
    • ‘As we speak, the total death toll is still unclear, but it amounts to several thousands.’
    add up to, come to, run to, number, be, make, total, equal, be equal to, be equivalent to, represent, count as
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    1. 1.1Be regarded or classified as; be the equivalent of.
      ‘their actions amounted to a conspiracy’
      • ‘what this guy was doing clearly did amount to persecution’
      • ‘But the tribunals' caseload amounted largely to dealing with deserters, known Confederate agents, and foreign nationals in Confederate service.’
      • ‘Instead, it was happy with the paper's ‘remedial action’, which amounted - five months after its front-page publication - to two mealy-mouthed paragraphs that offered no apology.’
      • ‘It amounted, one songwriter said, to ‘an admission of the claims made by the defenders of the pirates that publishers have been robbing the public.’’
      • ‘Will computers make trains so massively more controllable as to amount almost to a new form of transport?’
      • ‘They are looking at the camera with expectation that amounts almost to joy.’
      • ‘This amounts, of course, to an assertion that we can easily put aside economic law.’
      • ‘It amounts at the end of the day to the possibility of a bias in the way this Court puts it.’
      • ‘One writer noted that it was through such events that the ‘reverence for the flag amounting almost to worship’ acquired a ‘human face or word.’’
      • ‘My point was that your comments are simply not amounting to much more than you screaming.’
      • ‘I have concluded that the proposal amounts to inappropriate development in the Green Belt.’
      • ‘The result amounts to one of his more satisfying films in recent years.’
      • ‘The whole package amounts to a curious blend of high power and domesticity which she hopes will win over doubters.’
      • ‘Where are the voices of outrage over what amounts to a frontal assault on the constitution of the United States?’
      • ‘This amounts to a massive political bet on Scotland being collectivist rather than consumerist.’
      • ‘Move the ball just right of center in your stance and hit what amounts to a hard chip shot.’
      • ‘So me, I wonder how giving people more days to laze at home amounts to respect for religion.’
      • ‘It's just that when you put it all together, it amounts to a manipulation.’
      • ‘It amounts to saying that a future pope should cherish cultural heritage above all else.’
      • ‘This step by the medical fraternity amounts to a giant leap for the whole country, he added.’
      • ‘Could you advise on any source of help regarding what essentially amounts to an invisible disability.’
      constitute, comprise, be equivalent to, be tantamount to, approximate to, add up to, come down to, boil down to
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    2. 1.2Develop into; become.
      ‘you'll never amount to anything’
      • ‘So shine the light on all of your friends because it all amounts to nothing in the end.’
      • ‘You doubt that who you are and what you've done with your life really amounts to much at times.’
      • ‘I hear much about how my sort of gabbling amounts to nothing but blaming the victim.’
      • ‘You?ll never amount to anything because you procrastinate.’
      • ‘She'll never amount to anything.’
      • ‘Will 3D user interfaces ever amount to anything more than eye-candy?’
      become, grow into, develop into, mature into, prove to be, turn out to be, progress to, advance to
      View synonyms

Phrases

    any amount of

    • A great deal or number of.

      ‘the second half produced any amount of action’
      • ‘You cannot quite escape the war anywhere, resulting in reams of exasperation that cannot be dealt with by any amount of ranting.’
      • ‘But seriously, does any amount of soft or hard science help in this kind of discussion?’
      • ‘Little by little you will be renewed from within yourself and be able to withstand any amount of stress.’
      • ‘They are unfazed by any amount of death, destruction, loss, tragedy, travesty.’
      • ‘New Orleans gets any amount of rain and they have got a water problem.’
      • ‘Integrity is not something that can be bought with any amount of money.’
      • ‘There is just no reason that any amount of government money or ‘counseling’ will change this.’
      • ‘I don't think there is any amount of pressure that can be exerted from Australia that's going to make the difference.’
      • ‘It has lots of fun things for cheap, but it's a hassle to go there and spend any amount of time buying things for my survival.’
    no amount of

    • Not even the greatest possible amount of.

      ‘no amount of talk is going to change anything’
      • ‘No amount of coercion; no amount of force is going to keep us out of the water.’
      • ‘No amount of hoping, no amount of wishing or praying, could bring my mother back to me.’
      • ‘No amount of books, no amount of personal testimonial is going to change that.’
      • ‘His government is not trusted, and no amount of socially caring speeches can change that.’
      • ‘For pity is not a word to them, no amount of pleading can save you and no amount of money can buy your life.’
      • ‘After all was said and done, I came to realize that no amount of money could force me to teach a child as unwilling as he was.’
      • ‘The old rules have broken down, and no amount of hand wringing can bring them back.’
      • ‘But no amount of reading or looking at pictures can prepare us for the real thing.’
      • ‘For true believers, though, no amount of evidence will ever be enough.’
      • ‘In the end, no amount of criticism could dampen the spirits of Europe's new soccer champions.’

Origin

Middle English (as a verb): from Old French amunter, from amont ‘upward’, literally ‘uphill’, from Latin ad montem. The noun use dates from the early 18th century.