verb
Uncommon
tally
TA-lee
Tally (verb) means to count or add up a total. Example: “The clerk tallied the votes late into the night.”
verb
1
To count or add up a total.
"The clerk tallied the votes late into the night."
"Let's tally up how much we spent this month."
"The waiter tallied the bill and brought it to our table."
2
To match or agree with something else.
"Her story didn't tally with what the witnesses said."
"The two reports did not tally, so someone had made a mistake."
"His account of the evening tallies perfectly with mine."
noun
1
A running count or total.
"He kept a tally of every book he read that year."
"The scorer updated the tally after every goal."
"Keep a running tally of the miles you walk each week."
How to use tally
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo keep count of something, or a running total of that count.
Common pairings
keep a tally
tally up
final tally
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Word forms
- Third person singular
- tallies
- Past tense
- tallied
- Comparative
- more tally
- Superlative
- most tally
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
Let's _____ up how much we spent this month.
Etymology
A shortened form of "tallyho," though the counting sense comes from an older tradition of recording numbers with notches on a stick.
Synonyms
View more →Antonyms
Related words
Rhymes for tally
See all rhymes for tally →Frequently asked questions
What does “tally” mean?
The word “tally” means to count or add up a total. In plain terms, to keep count of something, or a running total of that count.
How do you pronounce “tally”?
“Tally” is pronounced TA-lee (/ˈtæli/ in IPA).
How do you use “tally” in a sentence?
Here is “tally” used in a sentence: “Let's tally up how much we spent this month.”
What is another word for “tally”?
Words with a similar meaning to “tally” include number.
What part of speech is “tally”?
Depending on how it is used, “tally” can be a verb and a noun.
Is “tally” a common word?
“Tally” is an uncommon word in modern English.
How many meanings does “tally” have?
“Tally” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to count or add up a total.
What is the difference between tally and count?
Tally as a verb often implies keeping or updating a running total over time, such as tallying votes as they come in, while count can describe a single act of determining a quantity at any point. As a noun, a tally specifically refers to the running total itself, whereas a count is more general.
What does it mean when two things tally?
When two things tally, it means they match or agree with each other, such as when the receipts tally with the bank statement. This sense of tally is used to describe consistency between records, accounts, or figures.
Where does the phrase 'tally up' come from?
To tally up simply means to add together a set of figures to reach a total, and the phrase is common in everyday contexts like tallying up scores, votes, or expenses. It reflects the noun sense of tally as a running count or total.
