accumulate

American  

[uh-kyoo-myuh-leyt] / əˈkyu myəˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

accumulated, accumulating

1. to gather or collect, often in gradual degrees; heap up.

   to accumulate wealth.

---

verb (used without object)

accumulated, accumulating

1. 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

1. to gather or become gathered together in an increasing quantity; amass; collect

---

Other Word Forms

• accumulable adjective
• accumulative adjective
• accumulatively adverb
• accumulativeness noun
• nonaccumulating adjective
• overaccumulate verb
• preaccumulate verb (used with object)
• reaccumulate verb
• superaccumulate verb (used without object)
• unaccumulable adjective
• unaccumulated adjective
• well-accumulated adjective

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” ( cumulus ( def. ) ) + -āre, infinitive verb suffix

Example Sentences

The station allows China to accumulate crucial experience in spacewalks, docking, maintenance and effects on the body.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

Workers today accumulate a pool of assets and then must decide how fast to drain it.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026

To better understand how microplastics accumulate, the research team collected samples from four forest sites east of Darmstadt in Germany.

From Science Daily • Mar. 23, 2026

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley noted to reporters last week that it’s one of the first times many women’s basketball players will be able to accumulate generational wealth.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026

Does he really want to disagree with those who think that poets and artists stand on the shoulders of their predecessors, and accumulate knowledge about how to write poems and paint pictures?

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• accrue
• acquire
• add to
• assemble
• collect
• compile
• concentrate
• expand
• gain
• grow
• hoard
• increase
• pile up
• rack up
• swell