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

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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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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 year, the IRS allows people to accumulate up to about $3.7 million in a cash balance plan by age 62, according to Dan Kravitz, cash balance senior sales director at FuturePlan by Ascensus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Small, calorie-dense foods consumed throughout the day, sugary drinks, too few fruit and vegetables and little understanding of how these habits accumulate over time.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Without standing water, the usual layers of lake sediment could not accumulate.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

Amyloid plaques, sticky clumps of protein that accumulate in the brain, are like the fire.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026

It opened silently, and as she stepped in, she felt Pet’s presence accumulate, the loudness of it growling through the floorboards and into the soles of her feet.

From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi

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

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

It accumulates as a sequence rather than arriving as a coup.

From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026

As a result, when a-beta accumulates inside neurons, it can potentially push tau out of its normal position.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026

Barclays emphasizes that gold’s key structural drivers — U.S. consumer-price inflation and central-bank buying — are “slow-moving variables whose influence accumulates over time.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026

But what about the thousands of everyday memories, the thousands of everyday reminders, that every person accumulates?

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

Someone who has accumulated $2 million or more in retirement savings has demonstrated financial discipline and competence.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Earlier this year, Anthropic signed new deals with cloud giants Google and Amazon, as well as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which recently began building a business selling excess data-center capacity that it had accumulated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Researchers found there were 46,000 fewer customer visits among formal businesses within half a mile of the nine sites and an estimated $3.16 million in accumulated revenue losses during the two weeks after enforcement activity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

England had to play three Tests in three different continents on successive weekends and accumulated 25,000 miles of travel.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

It was cozy, filled with the accumulated small possessions of several years.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

"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

While retirement planning often focuses on accumulating assets, the researchers argue that advisers and retirees should also pay close attention to future liabilities, particularly the essential expenses that are almost certain to occur.

From MarketWatch ● 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

The feeling of their spit striking me, running down my neck, and their germs accumulating on my face, felt disgusting.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

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