accrue
Americanverb (used without object)
-
accrues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
accrued,
past participle, past
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accruing
present participle
-
to happen or result as a natural growth, addition, etc.
- Synonyms:
- gather, collect, accumulate
-
to be added as a matter of periodic gain or advantage, such as an employment benefit or interest on money.
Paid time off is accrued weekly, at a rate of one hour per week.
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Law. to become a present and enforceable right or demand.
verb
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to increase by growth or addition, esp (of capital) to increase by periodic addition of interest
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(often foll by to) to fall naturally (to); come into the possession (of); result (for)
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law (of a right or demand) to become capable of being enforced
Usage
What does accrue mean? Accrue means to grow and accumulate naturally or to be added periodically. It’s especially used in the context of finance to refer to the growth of interest in an account. The past tense of accrue (accrued) can also be used as an adjective describing something that has been accumulated, as in accrued interest. The noun form of accrue is accrual. In law, accrue means to become a legal right. Example: A retirement fund allows money to accrue over the course of your career so that you can support yourself once you stop working.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
accruesimple
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accruessimple
-
have accruedperfect
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has accruedperfect
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am accruingprogressive
-
are accruingprogressive
-
is accruingprogressive
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have been accruingperfect progressive
-
has been accruingperfect progressive
Past
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accruedsimple
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had accruedperfect
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was accruingprogressive
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were accruingprogressive
-
had been accruingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of accrue
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English acruen, acrewen, probably from Anglo-French accru(e), Middle French accreu(e), past participle of ac(c)resitre “to increase,” from Latin accrēscere “to grow”; see ac-, crew 1, accretion
Explanation
To accrue is to accumulate or to keep growing in value or size. If you can accrue enough extra credit to build up your grade, you won't have to take the final exam. Early forms of the word accrue were used as early as the 15th century with the meaning "to increase" or "to grow." Many modern uses for accrue involve money or finances, as when you accrue, or earn, interest on a bank account. You can accrue debt too, as interest grows on top of money owed until you pay it back. It's possible to accrue benefits over the time you work somewhere, or you can accrue demerits while you're misbehaving somewhere.
Vocabulary lists containing accrue
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme
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Born a Crime
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The Road
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Travel enthusiasts accrue the free travel-sized toiletry pouches by the dozens, even hundreds; ‘I love every single one.’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The other bill, SB 878, would have required insurers to respond to claims in writing and pay them within 30 days, including for total losses, or pay interest that would accrue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
It warned the company would "likely accrue" more than £900m in penalties over the next five years.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
With balance-transfer cards, people can move existing credit-card debts to new cards and interest will not accrue for a set period of time.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
He walked to the top of a rise and crouched and watched the day accrue.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
The biggest tax benefit from municipals accrues to those with the highest incomes in the highest-tax locations — but you don’t need to be a multimillionaire to benefit.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
“While most claims for exclusion are for modest amounts, the bulk of the excluded gains, and thus tax savings, accrues to high-income individuals making large exclusion claims,” the Treasury economists wrote.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
Poor air quality also accrues an economic cost of about $800 billion each year.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2026
But much more than that, it is a story about how one individual, when he accrues enough wealth and influence and connections, can work the entire global system to his benefit for very nefarious purposes.
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2026
In what shape the benefit accrues to the two nations from the trade is clear enough.
From Principles Of Political Economy Abridged with Critical, Bibliographical, and Explanatory Notes, and a Sketch of the History of Political Economy by John Stuart Mill
By paying off her debt in full early she has accrued less interest and hopes to repay her family in four years - saving about £20,000.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
The agency had already stepped up cost-cutting to pay down debts accrued during the pandemic, he added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Adelkoff said she had accrued the vacation time over 40 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
According to the American Bondholders Foundation, this outstanding debt now exceeds $1 trillion, thanks to accrued interest and penalties.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
But he had also spent those same years marveling at the benefits that accrued to anyone willing to pose for posterity in the mythical mode.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
"The definition has been kept so vague that almost any benefit accruing to a person can be considered or argued to be an allurement," said Abhay Thipsay, a retired Bombay High Court judge.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Only your record keeps accruing delayed retirement credits — generally 8% per year for someone with an FRA of 67 — after 67 up to 70.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
“That leaves providers in this space of providing services and accruing and accumulating debt without any idea of when those contracts are going to be executed and when contracts will be paid,” Maceri said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
That echoes findings from other research showing that the world is getting wealthier, but with riches disproportionately accruing to the wealthiest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
The contract provided that all monies accruing to Malcolm X “shall be made payable by the agent to ‘Muhammad’s Mosque No. 2,’ ” but Malcolm X felt this was insufficient.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
