Meaning of count in English

count

verb

/kaʊnt/ us

/kaʊnt/

count verb (NUMBER)

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B1 [ I or T ]

to say numbers one after the other in order, or to calculate the number of people or things in a group:

The teachers counted the students as they got on to the bus.

Count your money carefully to make sure it's all there.

count out loud Let's count out loud (= speak the words) from one to ten.

[ + question word ] We need to count who's here, so we can make sure that no one's missing.

We're still waiting for the votes to be counted.

count something up Count up how many correct answers you got and write the total in the box.

There'll be eight for dinner, counting (= including) ourselves.

count heads

to count the number of people present somewhere:

There look to be about 50 people here - I haven't counted heads yet.

More examplesFewer examples

She admitted/conceded defeat well before all the votes had been counted.
He began counting backwards: "Ten, nine, eight ..."
I counted eight cars parked in their drive this morning!
I'm going to count how many customers come into the shop between seven and eight o'clock.
You count to a hundred and we'll go and hide.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Numbering & counting

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count verb (HAVE VALUE)

B2 [ I ]

to have value or importance:

I've always believed that happiness counts more than money.

count for My opinion doesn't count for anything around here (= no one values my opinion).

Synonym

matter

More examplesFewer examples

It's often the little things that count the most.
She's never lied to me, and in my book that counts for a lot.
It's quality not quantity that really counts.
Your health is what counts - the cost of the treatment is not important.
Your friendship counts more to me than you'll ever know.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Being important and having importance

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count verb (CONSIDER)

C2 [ I or T ]

to consider or be considered as:

count yourself I count myself fortunate to have had such a good education.

I've had three jobs in the last five years, but one of them was unpaid, so it doesn't count (= cannot be considered as a real job).

count someone/something among something I've always counted Sophia among my closest friends.

count as I didn't think his grudging remarks really counted as an apology.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Thinking and contemplating

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Idioms

...and counting
could count something on (the fingers of) one hand
count your blessings
count the cost
don't count your chickens before they're hatched

Phrasal verbs

count against someone/something
count someone in
count on someone
count on something
count something out
count someone out
count towards something

count

noun

/kaʊnt/ us

/kaʊnt/

count noun (NUMBER)

C2 [ C ]

the act of counting, or the total number of things counted:

do a count Having done a quick count, I find I've planted 25 different ferns.

head count The current head count (= total number of people) is about 31,500 employees.

at the last count We had 450 members at the last count (= when they were last counted).

[ C ]

the act of counting the votes in an election, or the event when this happens:

Early counts show Mr Adams in the lead.

The candidate's spouse and election agent are also entitled to be present at the count.

He lost by 3% of the vote, and has challenged the count in court.

keep count

to record how many of something there are, or how many times something has happened:

So many people asked us for help, it was hard to keep count.

lose count

to not be able to remember how many times something has happened:

I've lost count of how many times she's been late for work this month.

[ C ]

a scientifically measured amount of something:

a high pollen count

a low blood/sperm count

on the count of three, four, five, etc.

when a particular number is reached:

On the count of three, I'd like you all to stand up.

in boxing, the act of a referee counting slowly in seconds from one to ten when a fighter has been knocked down. If the fighter cannot stand up before the end of the count, they lose the match:

count of He had been down for a count of eight at the end of the previous round and looked to have little left.

He was floored for the full count in round two.

beat the count He beat the count and stumbled up at eight.

See also

standing count

in baseball, the number of balls thrown to a batter and the number of strikes (= balls they do not hit):

Travis walked after a 3–2 count.

Gil saw the count go to 3-and-0 with two runners on in the second inning.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Numbering & counting

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Elections

General words for size and amount

Fighting sports

Baseball & rounders

count noun (RANK)

[ C ]

a European man of the same social rank as an English earl

See also

countess

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Royalty, aristocracy & titles

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count noun (CRIME)

[ C ] law specialized

a particular crime that a person is accused of:

on a count of The prisoner was found guilty on two counts of murder.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Crime - general words

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count noun (OPINION)

[ C ]

an opinion in a discussion or argument:

on all counts I'm afraid I disagree with you on all counts (= I disagree with all of your opinions).

on several counts She insisted that my argument was wrong on several counts.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Opinions, beliefs and points of view

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Idiom

be out for the count

count yourself something

collocation

(also count yourself as something)

to consider yourself as being something:

I count myself fortunate to have had such a good education.

He does not count himself as part of the establishment.

See

count

More examplesFewer examples

He counts himself as one of the lucky ones.
We should probably count ourselves as a bit unlucky not to have won that match.
I count myself one her greatest admirers.
She doesn't count herself as much of a music fan.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Thinking and contemplating

See more results »

(Definition of count from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

count | American Dictionary

count

verb

/kɑʊnt/

count verb (CALCULATE)

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[ I/T ]

to say the names of numbers one after the other in order, or to calculate the number of units in a group:

[ I ] By the time I count to three, you’d better be in bed.

[ T ] The teachers counted the students as they boarded the bus.

[ T ] There’ll be eight for dinner, counting (= including) us.

[ + question word ] Can you count how many pencils are left?

count verb (CONSIDER)

[ I/T ]

to consider or be considered as:

[ T ] He counts Lucy as one of his closest friends.

[ I ] Does homework count toward my grade?

count verb (VALUE)

[ I ]

to have value or importance:

I’ve always believed that happiness counts more than money.

Idioms

don’t count your chickens before they hatch

on the count of something

Phrasal verbs

count (something) against someone/something
count someone in
count someone out
count down
count on someone/something
count out something

count

noun

/kɑʊnt/

count noun (CRIME)

[ C ] law

a separate item included in a criminal accusation against someone:

She was found guilty on two counts of fraud.

count noun (OPINION)

[ C usually pl ]

a statement of belief in a discussion or argument:

I think you’re wrong on all counts.

count noun (CALCULATION)

[ C/U ]

a calculation, esp. a scientific one, of the number of units in a group:

a low blood count

[ C ] We need a count of the number of e-mail inquiries.

(Definition of count from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of count

count

Cyst counts were transformed to instantaneous rates of infection.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Cattle were infested artificially with 2 x 10000 larvae and the engorging adult females counted.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The photon counting histogram in fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

All that counts is the attainment of the absolute values.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The analysis is, however, suspect on several counts.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Then this layer will be counted in (1).

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Thus, the common use of the egg counts to measure the reproductive capacity in echinostome infections should be reevaluated.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Ratios between mean counts in striatum and cerebellum were calculated.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We also examined our data by counting the number of interviews in which the twin reported a depressive episode for the various time periods.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Cells were then collected by trypsinization and counted.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The number of black pixels was counted in a standardized square positioned over each band.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

First, if several pieces of information that together answer the question are spread over several answer ranks, the lowest rank counts.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Since much of what follows depends on counting individual discrepancies, we should be explicit about how we have individuated discrepancies in our sample.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

On the other hand, where identical discrepancies occur in the analysis of separate instances of identical wording, each instance is counted separately.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Each of the models described above is formulated to enforce a hypothesized constraint on the counts in the contingency table.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of count

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with count

count

These are words often used in combination with count.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

accurate count

However, due to the difficulties in obtaining an accurate count on the body surface proper, only fins and corneae were included in this work.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

actual count

But any actual count depends on the specification and political acceptance of a whole array of conventions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

bacterial count

In general, however, a bacterial count of >100 c. f. u. resulted in the relevant machines being taken out of use.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with count

What is the pronunciation of count?

Translations of count

in Chinese (Traditional)

數位, （按順序）數，數數, 計算…

in Chinese (Simplified)

数字, （按顺序）数，数数, 计算…

in Spanish

contar, cómputo, número total…

in Portuguese

contar, valer, contagem…

in more languages

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क्रमाने एकापाठोपाठ एक आकडे सांगणे किंवा एखाद्या गटातील लोकांची किंवा वस्तूंची संख्या मोजणे, गणना करणे, किंमत किंवा महत्व असणे…

～を数える, ～が数を順に言う, ～が価値がある…

saymak, hesap etmek, sayı saymak…

compter, calculer, importer…

comptar, compte, recompte…

graaf, tellen, meetellen…

வரிசையில் ஒன்றன் பின் ஒன்றாக எண்களைச் சொல்வது, அல்லது ஒரு குழுவில் உள்ள நபர்களின் அல்லது விஷயங்களின் எண்ணிக்கையைக் கணக்கிடுவது, மதிப்பு அல்லது முக்கியத்துவம் பெறுதல்…

गिनना, मायने रखना, मूल्य या महत्व होना…

ગણતરી કરવી, મૂલ્ય અથવા મહત્વ ધરાવે છે, ગણવું…

greve, tælle, regne…

greve, räkna, beräkna…

Count, bilang, kira…

der Graf, zählen, schätzen…