accumulate

verb

ac·​cu·​mu·​late ə-ˈkyü-m(y)ə-ˌlāt 

accumulated; accumulating

transitive verb

: to gather or pile up especially little by little : amass

accumulate a fortune

intransitive verb

: to increase gradually in quantity or number

snow accumulating to a depth of several feet

Synonyms

• increase
• rise
• accelerate
• swell
• expand
• multiply

Examples of accumulate in a Sentence

Evidence of his guilt is accumulating.

the number of complaints about that mail order firm is really accumulating

Recent Examples on the Web

Rainwater tends to accumulate at the road edges. —Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 29 Sep. 2025

Mokoena, one of South Africa’s star players, had accumulated two yellow cards in the previous qualifying games (against Benin in November 2023 and against Zimbabwe in June 2024) and, therefore, should have been ineligible for South Africa’s game against Lesotho. —Nnamdi Onyeagwara, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025

As the cases rolled through the legal system, accumulating interest and court fees, the amount that patients owed often grew by 25%. —Rae Ellen Bichell, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2025

Forced to participate in increasingly macabre rituals and tests, Giacomo is consumed by the sinister — as apparitions, ghosts and deadly rumors start to accumulate. —Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 29 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin accumulātus, past participle of accumulāre "to heap up, add to, increase," from ad- ad- + cumulāre "to gather into a heap" — more at cumulate

Note: In part a Latinization of Middle French accumuler.

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for accumulate

• abbreviate
• accelerate
• accommodate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate
• ameliorate

Kids Definition

accumulate

verb

ac·​cu·​mu·​late ə-ˈkyü-myə-ˌlāt 

accumulated; accumulating

1

: to gather or pile up especially little by little : amass

accumulate a fortune

2

: to increase in quantity, number, or amount

rubbish accumulates quickly

Legal Definition

accumulate

verb

ac·​cu·​mu·​late

accumulated; accumulating

transitive verb

: to gather especially little by little

specifically : to add (income from a fund) back into the principal

intransitive verb

: to increase gradually in amount or number