I. ˈtalē, -li noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English taly, talye, from Medieval Latin talea, tallia, from Latin talea stick, twig, cutting — more at tailor
1. : a visible device for recording or accounting especially business transactions: as
a. : a usually square wooden rod or stick notched with marks representing numbers and split lengthwise through the notches so that each of two bargaining parties may have a record of a transaction and of the amount of money due or paid ; specifically : such a cloven stick formerly used by the English Exchequer as a record of government transactions
b. : any of various primitive devices or wooden sticks used for marking or counting
c. : any of various bookkeeping forms or sheets serving to record or check accounts, sales, or shipments
d. : a mechanical counter held in the hand and operated with a button or lever
e. : a tag or label used to mark or classify plants, trees, or goods
f. : a card or folder that designates a bridge player's starting position and provides space for recording his score
2.
a. : a reckoning or recorded account of something
a daily tally of accidents should be kept — Theodore Loveless
game warden keeps tally on the creel — American Guide Series: Connecticut
been out on the range … helping with the fall tally — W.V.T.Clark
a tally of mixed blessings — Dixon Wecter
b. : a score or point made (as in a game)
a record tally of 263 for 72 holes — Current Biography
drove in the first … tally in the opening inning — New York Times
the tally coming on a 15-yard pass — New York Times
c. : a record of the number of pieces and the grades of lumber
3.
a. : a half, part, or entity that agrees or corresponds to an opposite or companion member : complement , counterpart
one twin is the tally of the other
b. : the state or fact of correspondence or agreement
will find again the tally between proportion and thought — Edinburgh Review
4.
a. : a usually specified number or lot taken as a whole : tote
b. : a number or division used as a unit of computation
c. : the last of a specified unit or number
5. dialect England : companionate marriage 2
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to mark (as a number) on or as if on a tally : tabulate , record
tally the election returns as they are reported
tallied a deficit of … $1000 — Future
tallies some 10,000 automobile miles a year — Time
ideas and methods … impossible to tally on a balance sheet — Nation's Business
b. : to list or check off (a cargo, load, or shipment) by items
the mates supervising the loading and tallying the cargo
c. : to supply (a bale or shipment) with a label or distinguishing mark
d. : to grade and record the number of pieces (as of lumber)
e. : to register or cause to be registered (a point or score) in a game or contest
some means of tallying the scores — C.J.Erasmus
tallying 269 for 72 holes and prize money — Current Biography
tallied five TD's and two field goals — Eddie Beachler
2. : to make a count of (something) : reckon , total
tally your expenses for the day — Winston Brebner
can tally among his followers … three or four democratic senators — R.L.Neuberger
those men are waiting to tally … cattle — S.E.White
try to tally the bloody price exacted for this crime — O.T.Lanham
— sometimes used with out or up
when we tallied out the herd, every cow was counted — S.E.Fletcher
tally up the for and against — C.C.Furnas
when the intelligence reports were finally tallied up — Lou Stoumen
3. : to cause to correspond or complement : match
the far-fetched imagery, the insistent anecdote … are tallied by an equal amount of pains and forethought — Sacheverell Sitwell
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to make a tally by or as if by tabulating a number or record
if an error is made in tallying, the results of computations will be wrong — Lester Guest
at the time they tallied close to $110 billion — W.H.Anderson
the quarterly and annual tallying of payrolls — A.J.Caruso
b. : to register a point or score in a game or contest
tallied on a 34-yard burst through tackle — New York Times
the first time … over a five-year span that they had not tallied — Louis Effrat
2. : to balance or correspond in complementary fashion
calculated values of the centripetal force and the gravitational force did not tally — S.F.Mason
so completely did the two ghosts … tally in their particularity — Sacheverell Sitwell
— often used with with
representation must tally with thing represented — R.M.Weaver
this family doctrine tallied so little with the manifest circumstances — H.G.Wells
Synonyms: see agree
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: origin unknown
: to haul aft (as a sheet)