I. count 1 S2 W3 /kaʊnt/ BrE AmE verb
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ count , ↑ recount , ↑ counter ; verb : ↑ count , ↑ recount ; adjective : ↑ countable ≠ ↑ uncountable , ↑ countless ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: conter , from Latin computare ; ⇨ ↑ compute ]
1 . FIND THE TOTAL [transitive] ( also count up ) to calculate the total number of things or people in a group:
I was amazed at the number of plants – I counted 147.
count (up) how many
Count up how many ticks are in each box.
2 . SAY NUMBERS [intransitive] ( also count up ) to say numbers in order, one by one or in groups
count to
Sarah can count up to five now.
count by twos/fives etc
It’s quicker to count by tens (=saying 10, 20, 30 ...) .
3 . BE ALLOWED [intransitive and transitive] to be allowed or accepted, or to allow or accept something, according to a standard, set of ideas, or set of rules:
A linesman had his flag up so the kick did not count.
count as
Locally produced sales by American firms in Japan do not count as exports.
Today’s session is counted as training, so you will get paid.
count towards
Results from the two rounds count towards championship points.
4 . INCLUDE [transitive] to include someone or something in a total:
There are more than two thousand of us, not counting the crew.
count somebody/something among something
I count Jules and Ady among my closest friends.
5 . CONSIDER SOMETHING [transitive] to consider someone or something in a particular way
count somebody/something as something
I don’t count him as a friend any more.
You should count yourself lucky that you weren’t hurt.
6 . IMPORTANT [intransitive not in progressive] to be important or valuable:
First impressions really do count.
count for
His promises don’t count for much.
His overseas results count for nothing.
7 . I/you can count somebody/something on (the fingers of) one hand spoken used to emphasize how small the number of something is:
The number of cougar attacks on humans can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
8 . don’t count your chickens (before they’re hatched) spoken used to say that you should not make plans that depend on something good happening, because it might not:
I wouldn’t count your chickens, Mr Vass. I’ve agreed to sign the contract, but that’s all.
9 . count your blessings spoken used to tell someone to be grateful for the good things in their life
10 . be counting (down) the minutes/hours/days to be waiting eagerly for something to happen:
I'm counting the days until I see you again.
11 . count the cost to start having problems as a result of your earlier decisions or mistakes:
We’re now counting the cost of not taking out medical insurance.
12 . who’s counting? used to say that you are not worried about the number of times something happens – often used humorously:
Apparently the next Star Trek film (number six, but who’s counting?) will definitely be the last.
13 . and counting especially spoken used to say that an amount is continuing to increase:
At eight days and counting, this is the longest strike so far.
14 . count sheep to imagine a line of sheep jumping over a fence, one at a time, and count them as a way of getting to sleep
⇨ stand up and be counted at ↑ stand 1 (5), ⇨ it’s the thought that counts at ↑ thought 2 (12)
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ calculate formal to find out an amount, price, or value by adding numbers together:
The students calculated the cost of printing 5000 copies of their book.
▪ work out to calculate something. Work out is less formal than calculate , and is more common in everyday English:
You need to work out how much you will need to borrow.
▪ figure out ( also figure American English ) informal to calculate an amount:
We still haven't figured out how much it's all going to cost.
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the method for figuring welfare payments
▪ count to find out the total number of things or people in a group by looking at each one and adding them all together:
The teacher counted the children as they got on the bus.
▪ total ( also total up ) to add a number of things together to get a final number:
Once the scores have been totaled, we will announce the winner.
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Okay, now let's total up who had the most points.
▪ quantify formal to say how much something costs, how much of it there is, how serious or effective it is etc:
I think it's difficult to quantify the cost at the moment, for a variety of reasons.
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How do you quantify the benefits of the treatment?
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a reliable method for quantifying the amount of calcium in the blood
▪ assess formal to calculate what the value or cost of something is, or decide how good, bad etc something is:
The value of the paintings was assessed at $20 million.
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They are still assessing the damage.
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We need to have a better way of assessing students' progress.
▪ estimate to guess an amount, price, or number as exactly as you can, based on the knowledge you have:
The police department estimates that the number of violent crimes will decrease by 2%.
▪ put a figure on something to say what you think the exact total amount or value of something is, especially when it is a lot:
It's hard to put a figure on it, but the final cost is likely to be over £225 million.
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The company has refused to put a figure on its losses.
▪ project to calculate what an amount will be in the future, using the information you have now:
The company projects sales of $4 million this year.
count somebody in phrasal verb
to include someone in an activity:
When the game gets started, you can count me in.
count on/upon somebody/something phrasal verb
1 . to depend on someone or something, especially in a difficult situation:
You can count on me.
With luck, you might cover your costs, but don’t count on it.
count on (somebody/something) doing something
We’re all counting on winning this contract.
They were counting on him not coming out of hospital.
count on somebody/something to do something
You can count on Dean to ruin any party.
2 . to expect something:
The presence of Paula was one thing he hadn’t counted on.
count on (somebody/something) doing something
We didn’t count on so many people being on vacation.
count somebody/something out phrasal verb
1 . to not include someone or something in an activity:
I’m sorry, you’ll have to count me out tonight.
2 . to decide that someone or something is not important or worth considering:
I wouldn’t count him out. If anybody can make a comeback, he can.
3 . count something ↔ out to put things down one by one as you count them:
The teller counted out ten $50 bills.
II. count 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ count , ↑ recount , ↑ counter ; verb : ↑ count , ↑ recount ; adjective : ↑ countable ≠ ↑ uncountable , ↑ countless ]
[ Sense 1-8: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: conte , from conter ; ⇨ ↑ count 1 ]
[ Sense 9: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: conte , from Latin comes 'person you are with, member of the emperor's court' , from com- ( ⇨ COM- ) + ire 'to go' ]
1 . TOTAL the process of counting, or the total that you get when you count things:
Hold your breath for a count of ten.
2 . MEASUREMENT a measurement that shows how much of a substance is present in a place, area etc that is being examined:
The pollen count is high today.
3 . lose count to forget a number you were calculating or a total you were trying to count
lose count of
There have been so many accidents here, the police have lost count of them.
4 . keep count to keep a record of the changing total of something over a period of time
keep count of
I never manage to keep count of what I spend on my credit card.
5 . on all/several/both etc counts in every way, in several ways etc:
It was important that they secured a large and widespread audience. They failed on both counts.
6 . at the last count according to the latest information about a particular situation:
At the last count, I had 15 responses to my letter.
7 . be out for the count
a) to be in a deep sleep
b) if a ↑ boxer is out for the count, he has been knocked down for ten seconds or more
8 . LAW technical one of the crimes that someone is charged with:
Davis was found not guilty on all counts.
count of theft/burglary/murder etc
He was charged with two counts of theft.
9 . RANK/TITLE a European ↑ nobleman with a high rank
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + count
▪ a rough count (=not exact)
I made a rough count of the houses in the street.
▪ a quick count
According to my quick count, there were 15.
▪ a head count (=of how many people are present)
Make sure you do a head count before the children get back on the bus.
▪ a word/page count (=of how many words or pages there are)
Your computer can do an automatic word count.
▪ a traffic count (=of how many vehicles pass through a place)
We went to the main road at 9 am to begin our traffic count.
■ verbs
▪ do/make a count
I looked at the report and did a quick page count.