Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To gather or cause to increase; amass.
  • intransitive verb To be the site for (a gradually increasing mass), especially as a result of disuse or neglect.
  • intransitive verb To mount or pile up; increase: synonym: gather.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Collected into a mass or quantity; increased; intensified.
  • To heap up; collect or bring together; make a pile, mass, or aggregation of: as, to accumulate earth or stones; to accumulate money or sorrows.
  • To form by heaping up or collecting the parts or elements of; obtain by gathering in; amass: as, to accumulate wealth.
  • To grow in size, number, or quantity; go on increasing by successive additions: as, public evils accumulate.
  • To take degrees by accumulation, as in some English universities. See accumulation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To grow or increase in quantity or number; to increase greatly.
  • transitive verb To heap up in a mass; to pile up; to collect or bring together; to amass.
  • adjective Collected; accumulated.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To heap up in a mass; to pile up; to collect or bring together; to amass.
  • verb intransitive To grow or increase in quantity or number; to increase greatly.
  • adjective poetic, rare Collected; accumulated.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb get or gather together
  • verb collect or gather

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin accumulāre, accumulāt- : ad-, ad- + cumulāre, to pile up (from cumulus, heap; see keuə- in Indo-European roots).]

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Examples

  • We can accumulate from a thoughts of others a small pleasing thoughts; nonetheless a suggestion stays bankrupt as good as empty.

    Archive 2009-11-01 admin 2009

  • The tendency of Capital to accumulate is a big threat to the free market.

    Tax Cuts for the Rich, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • The main thing I have realized, as the names accumulate, is the shockingly young age of some writers.

    Four Days And Counting… « The Graveyard 2009

  • The main thing I have realized, as the names accumulate, is the shockingly young age of some writers.

    2009 December « The Graveyard 2009

  • In other words, gains from the rising value of the call options, given share price appreciation, will eclipse losses that accumulate from the short stance in TWX shares.

    Feverish Speculation Into Kleenex, Bank ETF, The Gap Andrew Wilkinson 2011

  • We can accumulate from a thoughts of others a small pleasing thoughts; nonetheless a suggestion stays bankrupt as good as empty.

    THE DANGERS OF SPIRITUAL LIFE-By Watchman Nee A Fair Mitre admin 2009

  • Whilst jogging along, three or four miles from camp, and calculating the probable sum total of dollars he should accumulate from the sales of furs he purposed taking from his traps that morning, his dog suddenly commenced barking at some invisible object which he supposed to be a squirrel, badger, or some other small animal, that had taken refuge in its burrow.

    Life in the Rocky Mountains 1844

  • Investors long the calls accumulate profits if shares of CTXS rise 5% to surpass the breakeven point at $40.69 by expiration.

    FXstreet.com 2009

  • Investors long the calls accumulate profits if shares of CTXS rise 5% to surpass the breakeven point at $40.69 by expiration.

    FXstreet.com 2009

  • Investors long the calls accumulate profits if shares of CTXS rise 5% to surpass the breakeven point at $40.69 by expiration.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page 2009

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