sum noun
1 amount of money
ADJ. considerable, generous, good, handsome, hefty, high, large, not inconsiderable, princely (ironic), significant, substantial, tidy (informal) It seemed an absurdly high sum to pay for a coat. For his first book he received the princely sum of $400. The team has raised substantial sums for local charities. | astronomical, colossal, enormous, exorbitant, huge, magnificent, massive, record, staggering, vast £200 was an astronomical sum of money in 1547. He joined the club two years ago for a record sum. | five-figure, six-figure, etc. | small, modest, nominal, reasonable, token, trifling The charity pays a nominal sum to lease the premises. | derisory, paltry | average | net | round $10,000 is a good round sum. | full, overall, total | agreed, fixed | undisclosed, unspecified | annual, monthly, etc. | regular | guaranteed | capital, cash, lump My wife would receive a guaranteed lump sum in the event of my death. | tax-free
VERB + SUM borrow, earn, fetch, raise, recover Some of the paintings should fetch a tidy sum at today's auction. You will have to go to court to recover these sums. | get, receive | award sb, contribute, give sb, grant sb, lend sb, offer sb, pay (sb), repay The judge awarded them an undisclosed six-figure sum in damages. | invest, spend | cost a project that cost vast sums of public money | charge (sb), fine sb | agree (on) We eventually agreed a sum and I gave him a cheque.
SUM + VERB be due, be payable The landlord has the right to recover any sums payable under this lease | be equal/equivalent to sth The gangsters offered him a sum equivalent to a whole year's earnings. | exceed sth
PHRASES a sum of money
2 calculation
ADJ. difficult, easy
VERB + SUM do, find the answer to I did a quick sum to work out how much it would cost.
PHRASES get your sums right/wrong The company got its sums wrong when estimating how many customers it would attract.
3 amount got by adding numbers
VERB + SUM calculate, find, work out Calculate the sum of the following figures.
PREP. ~ of The sum of two and five is seven.
sum verb PHRASAL VERBS sum sth up
ADV. aptly, neatly, nicely, succinctly, well | perfectly | just about ‘So we're stuck in this place, with no food, no heat, no light and no prospect of anyone coming to rescue us?’ ‘That just about sums it up.’
VERB + SUM seem to | attempt to, try to attempting to sum up recent economic trends | be difficult to, be hard to The appeal of this charming little town is hard to sum up.
PREP. as She summed it up as ‘the most brilliant lecture I've ever attended’.
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