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

Past

Future

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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Vocabulary lists containing accumulate

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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.

What parent, who genuinely put their children’s interests over their own wishes, would leave a medical debt to accumulate, unknown to their own daughter?

From MarketWatch • Jul. 6, 2026

If you started with a $0 balance and invested $750 per month for 25 years, assuming a 6% annual rate of return and 3% inflation, you would accumulate a little more than $509,000 by 2051.

From MarketWatch • Jul. 3, 2026

Researchers think these thick gaseous envelopes may have formed when the planets were much farther from their star, in colder regions of the protoplanetary disc where gas could rapidly accumulate around a solid planetary core.

From Science Daily • Jun. 27, 2026

Phillips said the "build up of repetitive lower-level hits over the course of somebody's career accumulate".

From BBC • Jun. 27, 2026

Foragers discounted the future because they lived from hand to mouth and could only preserve food or accumulate possessions with difficulty.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

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