amassed; amassing; amasses

transitive verb

1
: to collect for oneself : accumulate
amass a great fortune
2
: to collect into a mass : gather
must select rather than simply amass details

intransitive verb

: to come together : assemble
Dark clouds amassed over the city.
amasser noun
amassment noun

Examples of amass in a Sentence

They've amassed a wealth of information. amassed a truckload of donations in the course of their canned food drive
Recent Examples on the Web Biden has amassed $155 million in cash on hand for 2024 campaign. Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2024 Her post quickly amassed dozens of comments from neighbors with advice and similar stories about their challenges making payments to KC Water. Natalie Wallington, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024 The nifty accessory has amassed 14,000 ratings — about 10,000 of them five-star — and more than 500 shoppers have purchased it in the past month. Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 22 Mar. 2024 Walsh’s career spanned six decades and saw the actor perform on screens large and small – amassing more than 230 credits on IMDb – as well as in theater. Dan Heching, CNN, 21 Mar. 2024 The top five mobile shooter games of 2023 amassed 898 million downloads altogether, down from 2019's high of 1.7 billion. USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2024 Judicial primary candidates need to amass just over 50 percent of the vote to win their elections outright and avoid a November runoff. Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Mar. 2024 The Democratic measure, led by Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), had amassed nearly 180 signatures from the caucus as of Wednesday afternoon and would advance a national security package the Senate overwhelmingly approved over a month ago that allots $95.3 billion to assist foreign democracies. Abigail Hauslohner, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024 But none of these items has gained much traction on the internet, and the videos about them have amassed only modest views. Taylor Lorenz, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'amass.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Anglo-French amasser, from a- (from Latin ad-) + masser to gather into a mass, from masse mass

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of amass was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near amass

Cite this Entry

“Amass.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amass. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

amass

verb
: to collect into a mass : accumulate
amasser noun

More from Merriam-Webster on amass

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