totals

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of total.

   The monthly totals showed a steady increase in sales.

   Auditors compared the reported totals against the original receipts.

   Note

   Only the counting noun has a plural here. The adjective total, meaning entire or complete, never takes -s, so totals always names separate sums: monthly totals, reported totals, one figure per column or period. The same spelling also serves as the verb form, and position tells them apart. After a determiner (the totals) it is a noun; after a subject (it totals) it is a verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of total.

   The final invoice totals just over three thousand dollars.

   The cashier totals each order before printing the receipt.

   Note

   One spelling carries three verbs. In "the cashier totals the order" it means adds up and takes an object. In "the invoice totals three thousand dollars" it means amounts to and needs no "to" after it, unlike adds up to. In US slang, a driver who totals a car wrecks it completely, a use shortened from total loss. Keep that one out of formal writing.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2