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:
“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
The suit is an attempt to insulate Paramount from those costs, which it says will only accrue because of the ongoing legal action.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
The key aspect, however, is that “the majority of the value will accrue to the frontier models as they orchestrate other models, as they make them more efficient.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
Spend enough years standing behind pyramids of hamburgers, posing at fry stations and inserting yourself into the iconography of American restaurant chains, and eventually the props begin to accrue meanings of their own.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 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
“History suggests that transformative technologies create enormous value—and much of that value accrues to the companies that build and deploy them, and to the investors who own them,” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 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
First, investors should prioritize “picks-and-shovel plays” in AI, as value accrues to bottleneck layers — lithography, memory, advanced logic fabrication and chip design, he says.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 9, 2025
I’m freaking out that I should pay it off now before my interest accrues more and I can’t pay it off.
From Slate ● Mar. 28, 2024
Such salvation accrues to the individual so far as he gives himself over to the service of man, and to mankind in so far as men can only be saved together and not separately.
From The Sources Of Religious Insight by Josiah Royce
As the plaintiffs depleted their unpaid time bank and accrued time off-task, they were threatened with termination, the lawsuit alleges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 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
It had been sent after she asked to be paid in lieu of holiday entitlement she had accrued during her maternity leave.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 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
The sum of it had almost entirely depleted the modest savings Ekon had accrued from his time at the temple, not that Koffi needed to know that, or anything else about his financial situation.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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
October 1 is significant because it is the date on which a $7 million-a-day "ticking fee" begins accruing for Warner Bros.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
By the time many of these rising talents were accruing debt in graduate writing programs, the dream of a sustainable career in the nonprofit theater had already gasped its last breath.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 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
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.
