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Synonyms

accumulate

American

[uh-kyoo-myuh-leyt] / əˈkju mjəˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

to gather or collect, often in gradual degrees; heap up.

to accumulate wealth.

verb (used without object)

to gather into a heap, mass, cover, etc.; form a steadily increasing quantity.

Snow accumulated in the driveway. His debts kept on accumulating.

accumulate British

/ əˈkjuːmjʊˌleɪt /

verb

to gather or become gathered together in an increasing quantity; amass; collect

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Conjugated Forms

Present

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Etymology

Origin of accumulate

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin accumulātus “heaped up,” past participle of accumulāre “to heap up,” from ac- ac- + cumul(us) “heap” ( see cumulus ( def. )) + -āre, infinitive verb suffix

Explanation

To accumulate means to gather, usually in large quantities. Let's hope your boyfriend is not the type to accumulate girlfriends. The root of accumulate is cumulus which means "mound" or "heap." You might have heard of cumulus clouds, those big fluffy clouds that look like giant piles of whipped cream. Think of these heaping helpings of clouds when you think of accumulate. The money in your savings account accumulates interest, though these days you won't accumulate much wealth that way! Police accumulate evidence until they have enough to charge someone with a crime.

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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:

accumulate accumulates accumulated accumulating

Small, calorie-dense foods consumed throughout the day, sugary drinks, too few fruit and vegetables and little understanding of how these habits accumulate over time.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

The irony is that investors desperately tried to accumulate SpaceX stock before the IPO.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

Among the waste products the system clears are proteins called amyloid and tau, the deposits that accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

A history of fire suppression and bans on indigenous cultural burning has also allowed more kindling to accumulate on the forest floor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Within a few minutes, some of us had more money than we had been able to accumulate in a year of cottage allowances.

From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

They also reduce visceral fat, the fat stored deep around internal organs, as well as ectopic fat that accumulates in places where fat does not normally belong.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026

If treated right, peat accumulates "about a millimetre a year," Jones said.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

It accumulates as a sequence rather than arriving as a coup.

From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026

Barclays emphasizes that gold’s key structural drivers — U.S. consumer-price inflation and central-bank buying — are “slow-moving variables whose influence accumulates over time.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026

The word Maven comes from the Yiddish, and it means one who accumulates knowledge.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

Someone who has accumulated $2 million or more in retirement savings has demonstrated financial discipline and competence.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Latino entrepreneurs who participated in focus groups and surveys described fewer customers, reduced operating hours, canceled orders, staffing disruptions, depleted savings and accumulated debt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Because these elements rarely react chemically with other materials, scientists can use them as reliable markers of how solar wind particles entered and accumulated in lunar soil.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

England had to play three Tests in three different continents on successive weekends and accumulated 25,000 miles of travel.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

The room was not impressively large, even by Manhattan apartment-house standards, but its accumulated furnishings might have lent a snug appearance to a banquet hall in Valhalla.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger

Plastics are accumulating in our bodies, but scientists aren’t sure how bad that is for our health.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Unified faces a cash shortfall of $231 million by November of 2027, gradually accumulating a $3.585 billion deficit by June 30, 2029.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

Then, rather than trying to save up $250,000, focus on accumulating enough for that down payment, he says.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

Carbon that does become buried in seafloor sediments, by contrast, can remain locked away for millions of years, accumulating over vast stretches of time.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

After graduating from Las Vegas, I flew the F-86 for four years, accumulating over a thousand flying hours in it.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023