count

To find how many people or things there are by adding them one by one.

• Count the apples in the bag.
• We counted twenty people in the room.
• Have you counted all the coins?

Similar words: tally, number

Common phrases: count the money, count the children, count something twice, count the objects

If something counts, it is important or makes a difference.

• Your opinion counts.
• Every small effort counts when we work together.
• What counted most was her kindness.

How to use it: count for something (Experience counts for a lot in this job.)

Similar words: matter

Common phrases: really count, count for something, count for little

If you count on someone or something, you trust them to help or to do what you expect.

• You can count on me.
• We counted on good weather for the picnic.
• Can I count on you to arrive early?

How to use it: count on someone/something (We can count on her support.); count on someone to do something (I count on you to keep this secret.); count on doing something (We were counting on getting a lift home.)

Similar words: rely on, depend on

Common phrases: count on someone, count on something

If something counts, it is accepted or included under the rules.

• That goal doesn't count.
• Only votes received before Friday will count.
• Does this course count towards my degree?

How to use it: count towards something (These points count towards your final score.)

Common phrases: count towards something, count for something

To be considered a particular kind of thing.

• Does soup count as a meal?
• Volunteering counted as work experience.
• These small repairs count as regular maintenance.

How to use it: count as something (Walking to work counts as exercise.)

Similar words: qualify as

Common phrases: count as something, count as exercise, count as work

The total number of people or things found by adding them up.

• The final count was fifty people.
• My essay has a word count of eight hundred.
• The doctor checked her blood count.

Similar words: total, number, tally

Common phrases: total count, final count, blood count, word count

The act of finding how many people or things there are.

• Let's do a quick count.
• The count of votes took three hours.
• They repeated the count to check for mistakes.

How to use it: a count of something (We made a count of all the animals.)

Similar words: counting, tally

Common phrases: a quick count, a careful count, do a count, vote count

Your knowledge of how many things there are, which you may lose while adding them up.

• I lost count after twenty.
• She kept count of every lap he swam.
• I've lost count of the times we have moved.

How to use it: lose count of something (I've lost count of how many emails she sent.); keep count of something (Can you keep count of the visitors?)

Similar words: tally

Common phrases: lose count, keep count, lose count of