# all told

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/all-told
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

With everything included, counted, or summed; in total.

## Examples

- All told, we have ten people coming to the party.
- The repairs took three days and cost five hundred dollars, all told.
- All told, the expedition spanned six months, covered three continents, and resulted in several significant archaeological discoveries.

## Origin

From *all* + *told*, in which the latter word preserves the now archaic sense of the verb *tell* meaning to count. It is a survival of the original usage found in Middle English, where the act of narration and the act of enumeration were not yet distinct functions.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.