collocations.org

Collocations for sum - noun

1. amount of money

ADJECTIVE

considerable, generous, good, great, handsome, hefty, high, large, not inconsiderable (esp. BrE), princely (ironic), significant, sizeable, substantial, tidy (informal)
It seemed an absurdly high sum to pay for a coat.
For his first book he received the princely sum of $400.
The team has raised substantial sums for local charities.
astronomical, colossal (esp. BrE), enormous, exorbitant, huge, magnificent (esp. BrE), massive, record, staggering, vast
£200 was an astronomical sum of money in 1547.
He joined the team two years ago for a record sum.
five-figure, six-figure, etc. (esp. BrE)
modest, nominal, reasonable, small, token, trifling
The charity pays a nominal sum to lease the premises.
derisory, paltry
average
net
round (esp. BrE)
€10 000 is a good round sum.
full (esp. BrE), overall, total
agreed (esp. BrE), fixed
undisclosed, unspecified
annual, monthly, etc.
regular
guaranteed (esp. BrE)
capital, cash (esp. BrE), lump
My wife would receive a guaranteed lump sum in the event of my death.
tax-free (esp. BrE)

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VERB + sum

borrow, earn, fetch (esp. BrE), raise, recover (esp. BrE)
Some of the paintings should fetch a tidy sum at today's auction.
You will have to go to court to recover these sums.
get, receive
award sb (esp. BrE), contribute, give sb, offer sb, pay (sb), repay (esp. BrE)
The judge awarded them an undisclosed six-figure sum in damages.
How can we repay such a large sum?
invest, spend
cost
a project that cost vast sums of public money
charge (sb)
agree, agree on
We eventually agreed a sum and I paid him.

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sum + VERB

be due, be payable (both esp. BrE)
The landlord has the right to recover any sums payable under this lease
be equal to sth, be equivalent to sth
The gangsters offered him a sum equivalent to a whole year's earnings.
exceed sth

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PHRASES

a sum of money

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2. calculation

ADJECTIVE

difficult, easy

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VERB + sum

do
I did a quick sum to work out how much it would cost.

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PHRASES

get your sums right/wrong (BrE)
The company got its sums wrong when estimating how many customers it would attract.

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3. total

VERB + sum

calculate, find, work out
Calculate the sum of the following figures.

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PREPOSITION

sum of
The sum of two and five is seven.

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PHRASES

greater, less, more, etc. than the sum of its/the parts
The team is greater than the sum of its parts.

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Collocations for sum - verb

sum sth up - PHRASAL VERB

ADVERB

aptly, neatly, nicely, succinctly, well
perfectly
just about, pretty much
‘So we're stuck in this place with no food?’ ‘That just about sums it up.’

VERB + sum up

seem to
attempt to, try to
The report attempts to sum up recent economic trends.
be difficult to, be hard to
The appeal of this city is hard to sum up.

PREPOSITION

as
She summed it up as ‘the most brilliant lecture I've ever attended’.

PHRASES

can be summed up as
Her whole philosophy can be summed up as ‘so what?’.

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