lexicow

amount

/əˈmaʊnt//əˈmaʊnt/·noun (also verb)
From the lip of the spoon a fine pale stream pours without a break, and on the saucer below a single smooth mound grows — grain settling on grain so closely that no one grain can be told from the next. You could never pick them apart to tally; there is only the heap, more or less of it, read by its size as it rises. The pour eases off and the mound just sits there, one soft continuous body of the stuff, asking only how much, never how many.
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Definition

An amount is how much there is of something you measure rather than count — a mass or quantity treated as a single whole: the amount of water, sand, time, or money. Because the thing is uncountable, you weigh or gauge it instead of tallying separate units, and it pairs with 'much' and 'less' (a large amount, a small amount). It comes from Old French amonter, 'to mount up'. Set it against number, which is for separate, countable things. As a verb, to amount to is to add up to a total or be equivalent to.

Examples

  • The amount of evidence required to substantiate a claim of this kind is enormous.
  • The amount of rainfall this year was well below average, and the reservoirs began to diminish.
  • Her savings amounted to far less than she had hoped.

Collocations

a large amount of·a small amount of·the total amount·a fair amount of·amount to

Synonyms

quantity·volume·extent·sum·measure

See also

Word family

amounting (adjective)

In TOEFL & IELTS

A grammar favourite for TOEFL/IELTS. Amount goes with uncountable (mass) nouns and takes much/less: 'the amount of work', 'a small amount of water'. Using it with countable nouns ('the amount of people') is a classic error — there you want number ('the number of people'). The same split governs less vs fewer. Knowing it cleanly is easy marks in Writing and a frequent trap in error-identification questions.