Macmillan Dictionary

Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

count

 - definition
 
 
 
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
verb British English pronunciation: count /kaʊnt/ 
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theycount
he/she/itcounts
present participlecounting
past tensecounted
past participlecounted
Other entries for this word
 
  1. 1
    [intransitive/transitive] to calculate how many people or things there are in a group

    All the votes have been counted.

    She put the money in her bag without counting it.

    At least 60 people were injured, but we're still counting.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of count
  2. 2
    [intransitive] to say numbers one after another in order
    count (up) to:

    I can count up to ten in German.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of count
  3. 3
    [intransitive/transitive] to include something or someone in a calculation, or to be included in a calculation

    Points scored after the bell do not count.

    count towards:

    Marks for project work count towards your final exam result.

    count as:

    Do bank holidays count as part of annual leave?

    count something as something/be counted as something:

    For tax purposes, sick pay is counted as income.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of count
  4. 4
    [intransitive/transitive] to think of someone or something as a particular thing, or to be thought of as a particular thing
    count as:

    That counts as a lie as far as I'm concerned.

    count something as something/be counted as something:

    Does geography count as a science subject?

    count someone as something:

    Beth had a good voice, but had never counted herself as a real musician.

    count someone among something:

    He counts John Lennon among his musical influences.

    count yourself lucky/fortunate:

    We can count ourselves lucky that none of us got hurt.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of count
  5. 5
    [intransitive] to be important, or to have influence

    You're late, but you're here; and that's what counts.

    What really counts is whether you have good computing skills.

    count for something/anything/nothing:

    They made me feel my views didn't count for anything.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of count

phrases

This is the British English definition of count. View American English definition of count.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

 

charticle

a news article that consists of a chart … and only has a small amount of text

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day

electron

a part of an atom that moves around the nucleus (=centre) and has a negative electrical charge

Open Dictionary

never event

an event that should never occur in a healthcare setting …

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog