If I want to reference a span of rows I can do something like A1:A100. If I want to lock the column/row I can use $; $A1:$A100.
A1:A100
$
$A1:$A100
Is
Google sheets is more flexible, you can use the syntax
=Sum(A2:A)
or even
=Sum(A2:C)
You can also do the same with rows e.g.
=Sum(B2:2)