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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

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.

See Examples For:

accumulate accumulates accumulated accumulating

This kind of familiarity is one of the pleasures of becoming a regular somewhere: over time, without really deciding to, two people accumulate small pieces of information about each other.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

Warsh said that doing so "would allow more information to accumulate between meetings than under current practice and provide policymakers and the staff more time to consider strategic monetary policy issues," the minutes said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

"I feel my skills and my passion are better suited to trying to pass on that knowledge and experience I've been lucky enough to accumulate over the years."

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Creators can alternatively accumulate 8,000 hours of watch time over a year, up from 4,000 today.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 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

In a presidency good news comes and goes but bad news accumulates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Fat that accumulates around the abdomen is especially concerning because it is associated with cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and a higher risk of premature death.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026

Namely, how much microplastic is absorbed by the body and how much accumulates over time given that researchers think some level of the plastics exit the body.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

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

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

Rather, it accumulates in the bones and blood–that’s what makes it so dangerous–and neither bone nor blood was tested.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

In the decades since, researchers around the world have accumulated much more anatomical information and a larger collection of comparative fossils.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

Although gap between its accumulated orders and annual target remains high, the related overhang on its share price has mostly been digested, the analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

With the Mexican national team, he has accumulated more than 70 international appearances, 18 goals, and 12 assists.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Paying taxes on the current income isn’t fun, but at least but this will lower your accumulated capital gains as the years go by, making selling decisions easier.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

Her internal heat, the heat of anger, was cooking that accumulated carbon dioxide.

From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg

Samples—and a certain stink—are accumulating at Quest Diagnostics thanks to the cyclosporiasis outbreak.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

"Not only that, evidence has been accumulating that it also raises the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and mental illness," says Kang Mo-yeol, professor of occupational medicine at the Catholic University of Korea.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

In Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies, tau proteins begin accumulating inside nerve cells.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 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

On August 4, shortly before his father was to face another surgery to release rapidly accumulating pus, Jim wrote, “Papa doing splendidly.”

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

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