accrue
Americanverb (used without object)
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accrues,
present (3rd person singular)
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accrued,
past participle, past
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accruing
present participle
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to happen or result as a natural growth, addition, etc.
- Synonyms:
- gather, collect, accumulate
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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
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accruesimple
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accruessimple
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have accruedperfect
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has accruedperfect
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am accruingprogressive
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are accruingprogressive
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is accruingprogressive
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have been accruingperfect progressive
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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
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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:
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
“There’s this concept out there that if your testosterone number is higher, then all these magical benefits will accrue to you, and it’s simply not true.”
From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2026
He knew the praise was premature, but the banquet hinted at the greater glory that would accrue to him at fair’s end, provided of course the exposition met the world’s elaborate expectations.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Interest accrues over time, which increases the loan balance.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
It’s true that in the absence of independent, trusted sources of information, power accrues without accountability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
“Microsoft’s diversity of exposure to the software stack gives the company multiple ways to win depending on where the value accrues from AI adoption,” wrote Borges.
From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026
That judgment, which accrues interest, is now valued at more than $485 million, according to USA Today.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2024
The benefit also accrues from the greater facility with which all community business may be conducted.
From American Rural Highways by T. R. (Thomas Radford) Agg
The balance has been growing on her credit report due to accrued interest, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
They help sustain this boutique press because of wealth that has been accrued, in many cases, in a sector predicated on a steady supply of new technologies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● 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
In an email to team managers seen by the BBC, the Central Scotland Football Association said it had accrued a "long list" of discipline issues "which have no place in grassroots football".
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
I accrued last night’s infraction because my last clean blouse was the wrong color; it’s not as if I’ve magically acquired more white ones since then.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
"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
That might be because a growing number of Americans feel that gains in wealth are mostly accruing to those at the top, according to John Dick, chief executive of consumer analytics company CivicScience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Those fees, which begin accruing in October, will cost Paramount an extra $7 million a day — until the purchase is finalized.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Most of the wealth accruing to the companies monetizing it has been expropriated by them.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 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
Definitions 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.
