Meaning & use
aggregate
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Meanings
nouncountable
A total made up of separate parts or amounts added together.
Grammar: Often used with in the or on: the team won on aggregate.
Patterns
- in the aggregate
- on aggregate
The aggregate of their donations reached ten thousand dollars.
Barcelona won 5-3 on aggregate over the two matches.
In the aggregate, sales are rising.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Made up of several amounts or elements considered as one whole.
Grammar: Placed before a noun: aggregate demand.
The aggregate score decided the winner.
Economists study aggregate spending across the country.
noununcountabletechnical
Sand, gravel or crushed stone mixed with cement to make concrete or used for road surfaces.
Grammar: No plural: the builders ordered more aggregate.
The concrete was mixed with fine aggregate.
Trucks delivered aggregate to the road site.
verbtransitive or intransitiveformal
To gather separate items or amounts into one group or total.
Grammar: Takes an object when you combine things: aggregate the data; with no object, the things themselves clump: cells aggregate.
Patterns
- aggregate something into something
- aggregate something by something
The site aggregates news from hundreds of sources.
The survey results were aggregated by region.
Platelets aggregate to form a clot.
Word forms
| plural | aggregates |
|---|---|
| third person singular | aggregates |
| past tense | aggregated |
| -ing form | aggregating |
Common combinations
- on aggregate
- The club lost on aggregate despite winning at home.
- in the aggregate
- In the aggregate, the changes were small.
- aggregate data
- The report uses aggregate data from all schools.
- aggregate demand
- Aggregate demand fell during the recession.
- aggregate score
- Her aggregate score was the highest in the class.
Synonyms and how they differ
- total
- Total is the plain everyday word for a sum, while aggregate stresses that it is built from distinct parts.
- collective
- Collective as an adjective stresses shared group action, whereas aggregate stresses a counted sum.
- combine
- Combine is the common verb for joining things and does not suggest collecting them into a total as aggregate does.
Opposites
Word family
- aggregation noun
- the act of gathering things into a whole
- aggregator noun
- a site or tool that collects content from many sources
- disaggregate verb
- separate a total into its parts
Commonly confused: aggregate or aggravate?
aggregate vs aggravate
Aggravate means to make worse or to annoy; aggregate means to gather into a total.
Practice
The two-leg tie finished 3-1 and 0-1, so the home side won 3-2 ____.
Choose one answer.
On aggregate is the fixed phrase for the combined score over two matches. The other options are not used this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “aggregate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.