adding

The word “adding” means the act of combining numbers or things to increase a total. In plain terms, putting things together, most often numbers, to make a bigger total.

“Adding” is pronounced A-dihng (/ˈæ.dɪŋ/ in IPA).

Here is “adding” used in a sentence: “Adding the two columns gave her the final invoice amount.”

“Adding” is a noun.

“Adding” is a fairly common word in modern English.

Adding combines numbers or things to make a larger total, using the plus sign. Subtracting does the reverse, taking one amount away from another to leave a smaller result, using the minus sign. They are opposite operations: adding increases a total, while subtracting reduces it. Together they are two of the basic arithmetic operations.

They are closely linked. Adding is the ongoing action, the act of combining numbers or things. Addition is the mathematical operation or process itself, the name of the concept. You do adding when you perform addition. In everyday use the two overlap, but addition is the more formal, technical term.

Combining three apples with two more to make five is adding. So is totting up a shopping bill, or increasing a team by hiring new members. Any time separate amounts are brought together to make a larger total, whether numbers, objects, or ingredients, you are adding.