Take ye the sum of all the congregation. --Num. i.
2.
Note: Sum is now commonly applied to an aggregate of numbers,
and number to an aggregate of persons or things.
2. A quantity of money or currency; any amount, indefinitely;
as, a sum of money; a small sum, or a large sum. ``The sum
of forty pound.'' --Chaucer.
With a great sum obtained I this freedom. --Acts
xxii. 28.
3. The principal points or thoughts when viewed together; the
amount; the substance; compendium; as, this is the sum of
all the evidence in the case; this is the sum and
substance of his objections.
4. Height; completion; utmost degree.
Thus have I told thee all my state, and brought My
story to the sum of earthly bliss. --Milton.
5. (Arith.) A problem to be solved, or an example to be
wrought out. --Macaulay.
A sum in arithmetic wherein a flaw discovered at a
particular point is ipso facto fatal to the whole.
--Gladstone.
A large sheet of paper . . . covered with long sums.
--Dickens.
{Algebraic sum}, as distinguished from arithmetical sum, the
aggregate of two or more numbers or quantities taken with
regard to their signs, as + or -, according to the rules
of addition in algebra; thus, the algebraic sum of -2, 8,
and -1 is 5.
{In sum}, in short; in brief. [Obs.] ``In sum, the gospel . .
. prescribes every virtue to our conduct, and forbids
every sin.'' --Rogers.
The mind doth value every moment, and then the hour
doth rather sum up the moments, than divide the day.
--Bacon.
2. To bring or collect into a small compass; to comprise in a
few words; to condense; -- usually with up.
``Go to the ant, thou sluggard,'' in few words sums
up the moral of this fable. --L'Estrange.
He sums their virtues in himself alone. --Dryden.
3. (Falconry) To have (the feathers) full grown; to furnish
with complete, or full-grown, plumage.
But feathered soon and fledge They summed their pens
[wings]. --Milton.
{Summing up}, a compendium or abridgment; a recapitulation; a
r['e]sum['e]; a summary.
Syn: To cast up; collect; comprise; condense; comprehend;
compute.