accumulate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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accumulativenessnoun
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overaccumulateverb
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reaccumulateverb
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preaccumulateverb (used with object)
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superaccumulateverb (used without object)
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accumulableadjective
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accumulativeadjective
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nonaccumulatingadjective
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unaccumulableadjective
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unaccumulatedadjective
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well-accumulatedadjective
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accumulativelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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accumulatesimple
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accumulatessimple
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have accumulatedperfect
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has accumulatedperfect
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am accumulatingprogressive
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are accumulatingprogressive
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is accumulatingprogressive
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have been accumulatingperfect progressive
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has been accumulatingperfect progressive
Past
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accumulatedsimple
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had accumulatedperfect
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was accumulatingprogressive
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were accumulatingprogressive
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had been accumulatingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing accumulate
List 2
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Gimme, Gimme, Gimme
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"Of Mice and Men"
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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:
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
During cellular senescence, damaged or aging cells stop working normally but remain in the body and accumulate over time.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
The irony is that investors desperately tried to accumulate SpaceX stock before the IPO.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Fluid runs along tiny channels beside the brain's blood vessels, washing away the waste products that accumulate during waking hours.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 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
Scientists already knew that improperly folded proinsulin accumulates during diabetes and places stress on pancreatic beta cells.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 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
It accumulates as a sequence rather than arriving as a coup.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
Though I'll have to clean it thoroughly every few hours as dust accumulates.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The rest accumulated slowly and, for the most part, logically: lemon zest for brightness, bacon for savory crunch, avocado for cool richness.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
And it can backfire for those who get overwhelmed easily and don’t see a silver lining to having accumulated a lot of wealth.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
We “carry the burden of approximately four billion years of accumulated mutations,” a long record of “convoluted workarounds rather than . . . definitive, streamlined solutions.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 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
Enough new snow had accumulated that I feared a massive slab avalanche had released on the slopes above, but when I spun around to look I saw nothing.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
“That leaves providers in this space of providing services and accruing and accumulating debt without any idea of when those contracts are going to be executed and when contracts will be paid,” Maceri said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 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
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
Rates vary by species, with genetic changes accumulating more quickly in some animals than in others.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
As a result, said Mundie, “a huge amount of data and creativity was accumulating in all those computers,” but there was no easy, interoperable way to share it and mold it.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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.
