Meaning & use

count on

verb·Everyday

To rely on someone or something with confidence that they will help or behave as expected.

See it in a sentence

You can always count on your sister to tell you the truth.

We were counting on good weather for the outdoor wedding, but it rained anyway.

A note on using this word

Count on is typically followed by a noun, pronoun, or gerund, as in count on winning, and is common in everyday spoken English.

Words with a similar meaning

rely ondepend on

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Make it your own

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