accumulate

American  

[uh-kyoo-myuh-leyt] / əˈkyu myəˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

accumulated, accumulating

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

   to accumulate wealth.

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verb (used without object)

accumulated, accumulating

1. 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

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

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Other Word Forms

• accumulable adjective
• accumulative adjective
• accumulatively adverb
• accumulativeness noun
• nonaccumulating adjective
• overaccumulate verb
• preaccumulate verb (used with object)
• reaccumulate verb
• superaccumulate verb (used without object)
• unaccumulable adjective
• unaccumulated adjective
• well-accumulated adjective

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” ( cumulus ( def. ) ) + -āre, infinitive verb suffix

Example Sentences

"We collected data successfully; however, we didn't achieve the accumulated mileage that we were targeting."

From Barron's

Researchers searched for tissues containing proteins that could serve as targets and suspected that some of these proteins might accumulate with age.

From Science Daily

Those things include helping many Americans save for retirement, accumulate home equity, and finance purchases; and financing the operations of many businesses with debt and stock sales.

From The Wall Street Journal

Wealth accumulates with age, so people at retirement tend to have much more than younger generations, a pattern evident in Fed surveys back to 1989.

From The Wall Street Journal

Even local Sierra ski areas, like Palisades Tahoe, closed on Tuesday because their large staffs of professional ski patrollers could not keep up with the rapidly accumulating snow and keep guests safe from avalanches.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accrue
• acquire
• add to
• assemble
• collect
• compile
• concentrate
• expand
• gain
• grow
• hoard
• increase
• pile up
• rack up
• swell