Search

to unite or join so as to increase the number, quantity, size, or importance:
to add two cups of sugar; to add a postscript to her letter; to add insult to injury.
to find the sum of (often followed by up):
Add this column of figures. Add up the grocery bills.
to say or write further.
to include (usually followed by in):
Don’t forget to add in the tip.
to perform the arithmetic operation of :
children learning to add and subtract.
to be or serve as an (usually followed by to):
His illness added to the family’s troubles.
Journalism. copy added to a completed story.
add up to, to signify; indicate:
The evidence adds up to a case of murder.
add up,

to make the desired, expected, or correct total:
These figures don’t add up right.
to seem reasonable or consistent; be in harmony or accord:
Some aspects of the story didn’t add up.

Contemporary Examples

A good score adds a little something to the mix but is never overbearing.
The ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Phenomenon: Billions in Sales, Crashed Servers, and a Flashy Concert Alec Kubas-Meyer October 1, 2013

He adds that AIS “knows there are two levels of approach to this” and has different therapies for children and adults.
A Star-Studded Gala for Stuttering Andrew Carter June 7, 2011

The actors perform these scenes for four, sometimes six hour, stints and are “exhausted,” he adds, by the end of their shifts.
Sex, Blood, and Screaming: Blackout’s Dark Frights Tim Teeman October 6, 2014

But other evidence has been collected that adds potentially damning details, including the testimony of the receptionist.
The Timeline of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s Weekend Christopher Dickey May 19, 2011

Certain sections of the battlefield,” he adds, “were littered with the ghastly remains of burnt-out tanks and incinerated crews.
How the War Ended: WWI’s Last Hundred Days Ian Klaus February 25, 2014

Historical Examples

It adds piquancy to conversation, as a mushroom does to a sauce.
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table Oliver Wendell Holmes

It must be confessed (he adds drily) that in England this is a lifelong disqualification.
De Libris: Prose and Verse Austin Dobson

It is a saying among the English, he adds, that the French do not trade with the Indians but rob them.
Count Frontenac William Dawson LeSueur

This may have increased the resistance, but it adds to the steadiness.
Flying Machines W.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell

The sentence was promptly carried out, and Walter adds that the Count in person superintended its execution.
The Story of Bruges Ernest Gilliat-Smith

verb
to combine (two or more numbers or quantities) by addition
(transitive) foll by to. to increase (a number or quantity) by another number or quantity using addition
(transitive) often foll by to. to join (something) to something else in order to increase the size, quantity, effect, or scope; unite (with): to add insult to injury
(intransitive) foll by to. to have an extra and increased effect (on): her illness added to his worries
(transitive) to say or write further
(transitive) foll by in. to include
noun
(informal) an instance of adding someone to one’s list of contacts on a social networking site, esp MySpace: Thanks for the add!
abbreviation
attention deficit disorder
v.

late 14c., “to join or unite (something to something else),” from Latin addere “add to, join, attach, place upon,” from ad- “to” (see ad-) + -dere comb. form meaning “to put, place,” from dare “to give” (see date (n.1)). Meaning “to do sums, do addition” also is from late 14c. Related: Added; adding. To add up “make sense” is from 1942.

ADD abbr.
attention deficit disorder
ADD
Abbreviation of attention deficit disorder
American Digestive Disease Society
Administration on Developmental Disabilities
attention deficit disorder