count

Pronunciation

• (US) (UK) IPA ^(key): /kaʊnt/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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Verb

Plain form count

Third-person singular counts

Past tense counted

Past participle counted

Present participle counting

1. (transitive & intransitive) If you count something, you find how many there are, usually by looking at them one by one.

   OK kids, first everyone get on the bus, and then we'll count to see that everyone's here.

   I counted 43. How many did you get?

   I counted up the mistakes and divided by the total.

   My daughter can count to twenty by twos.

2. (transitive & intransitive) If something counts, it is accepted, allowed, or included.

   If you use your hands in soccer, the goal doesn't count.

   That's not the answer we were looking for, but it counts as correct.

   Do you count the pet as part of the family?

   Hey, count me in. I want to play too.

3. (intransitive) If something counts, it's important or useful.

   If you're trying to lose weight, the kind of food you eat really does count.

   The way you dress can count for a lot when you're looking for a job.

4. (intransitive) If you count on somebody or something, you depend on them.

   If you have any problems, you can count on me to help out.

Synonyms

• matter

Noun

Singular count

Plural counts

1. (countable) A count is the number of something.

   Our new-student count is now up to 124, five more students than last time.

2. (countable) A count is an act of counting.

   The study will include a count of the number of birds on the island.

   We're going to jump on the count of three: one, two, three!

3. If you loose count of something, you can't count them all.

   I've lost count of the number of times she's said that.

4. (countable) In law a count is a crime that a court has charged you with.
5. (countable) (nobility) A count is European title, similar to earl.

Related words

• uncounted
• counting
• countless
• countable
• uncountable
• count down
• count noun