accrete
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
adjective
verb
-
to grow or cause to grow together; be or become fused
-
to make or become bigger, as by addition
Etymology
Origin of accrete
First recorded in 1775–85; back formation from accretion
Explanation
To accrete is to gradually gather into a pile or grow together into a mass. When tiny dust particles slowly accumulate under your bed, they may accrete into a big dust bunny. The word accrete describes how small particles or elements slowly come together to form a larger mass. This term is often used in science to explain processes like the formation of planets or stars, where bits of matter accrete and build up over time. You can also think of how snowflakes accumulate on the ground, creating a thick layer of snow. The word comes from the Latin accretus, which means "grown together," highlighting the natural process of accumulation in our universe.
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:
"They are so dense that when they accrete material on their surface they can undergo runaway nuclear reactions, which we detect as novae."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2025
Once it’s there, minerals begin to accrete around this core.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2024
“Essentially what will happen is that there’s an about 10-Jupiter-mass object that will form, and then that will accrete very rapidly,” Abel says.
From National Geographic ● Sep. 14, 2023
"Rings that are formed outside Roche limits aren't meant to be stable; they should rapidly accrete into moonlets, using up all the ring material," Dhillon said.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 11, 2023
If the ring were not so close to Saturn, this effect would not be so strong, and the particles could accrete, making small snowballs and eventually growing into satellites.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The zone where the islands switched from being subducted to being accreted would have been under incredible strain and been ripped apart.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 2024
The accreted material is usually made up of Hydrogen, but for older stars that lost their outer layer, it also can be Helium.
From Space Scoop ● Jun. 8, 2023
This water sits in some of the state's shallowest and most remote aquifers, where it has accreted over thousands of years beneath chalk-white valleys.
From Salon ● May 7, 2023
Anything as old as this parade has accreted plenty of delish rumors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2022
The X-rays are plausibly generated by friction in the disk of gas and dust accreted around Cyg X-l from its supergiant companion.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
An artist’s illustration of an accreting supermassive black hole.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2024
Such high-velocity winds are typically driven by processes associated with vigorously accreting supermassive black holes.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 4, 2024
The x-ray brightness implied that the accreting black hole had a mass roughly 40 million times the mass of our Sun.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 22, 2023
I’m simplifying it, because we still don’t know exactly how jets are created from accreting black holes.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 22, 2023
But the matter accreting into a disk surrounding the black hole would be a sight worth remembering, in the unlikely case that you survived the trip.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
