plural tallies
1
a
: a recorded reckoning or account (as of items or charges)
keep a daily tally of accidents
b
: a score or point made (as in a game)
2
: a device (such as a notched rod or mechanical counter) for visibly recording or accounting especially business transactions
3
a
: a part that corresponds to an opposite or companion member : complement
b
: a state of correspondence or agreement
tallied; tallying
1
a
: to record on or as if on a tally : tabulate
b
: to list or check off (something, such as a cargo) by items
c
: to register (a score) in a contest
2
: to make a count of : reckon
3
: to cause to correspond
1
a
: to make a tally by or as if by tabulating
b
: to register a point in a contest : score
2
: correspond, match
Examples of tally in a Sentence
Noun
What is the final tally?
Her second goal turned out to be the game-winning tally.
Verb
He tallied his expenses every day.
The numbers on the old list and the new list don't tally.
Recent Examples on the Web
Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Mykhailo Fedorov, for example, a minister in the wartime government of Ukraine, recently showcased the country’s point tally system.
—Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025
Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 2025
FraudGPT, which launched just a month after WormGPT, reportedly tallied over 3,000 paying subscribers, while DarkGPT, XXXGPT, and Evil-GPT have all enjoyed varying levels of success.
—Big Think, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tally
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
His current tally of three goals in all competitions (one of which was a penalty at Burnley) is his lowest return at this stage of a season.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Mykhailo Fedorov, for example, a minister in the wartime government of Ukraine, recently showcased the country’s point tally system.
—Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
In addition, the Heat tallied 20 fast-break points in Friday’s first half.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 2025
FraudGPT, which launched just a month after WormGPT, reportedly tallied over 3,000 paying subscribers, while DarkGPT, XXXGPT, and Evil-GPT have all enjoyed varying levels of success.
—Big Think, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tally
Cite this Entry
“Tally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tally. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tally
1 of 2 noun
tal·ly
ˈtal-ē 
plural tallies
1
: a device for keeping a count
2
a
: a recorded account
b
: a total recorded
3
: a score or point made (as in a game)
tally
2 of 2 verb
tallied; tallying
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share