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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

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Conjugated Forms

Present

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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 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

With a 10% return, you could accumulate more than $100,000 by 67 if you claimed at 62.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

Among the waste products the system clears are proteins called amyloid and tau, the deposits that accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Unfortunately in the 1970s no tests existed for determining how long such a deposit might have taken to accumulate.

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

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

In this traditional view, low-density magma gradually accumulates within the crust, increasing pressure until the surrounding rock fractures, collapses, and ultimately erupts.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 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

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

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

It must be the sleep debt I owe my body—the accumulated hours of missed rest over the past four days.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

"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

There was a simple problem with this strategy of establishing the existence of the spirit world by accumulating testimonies from reliable witnesses.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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