accrete

verb

ac·​crete ə-ˈkrēt How to pronounce accrete (audio)
accreted; accreting

intransitive verb

: to grow or become attached by accretion

transitive verb

: to cause to adhere or become attached
also : accumulate

Examples of accrete in a Sentence

silt accreting at the mouth of the river over time
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In many cases, similar accreting black holes are telltale signs of active galactic nuclei, but astronomers needed to examine the evidence more carefully. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 7 Aug. 2025 The research team was able to utilize a unique approach that doesn't rely on the black hole being an actively accreting one. Monisha Ravisetti, Space.com, 7 Aug. 2025 As an aside, Simon’s father, Bob, was a CBS foreign correspondent and 60 Minutes regular who accreted 27 Emmys, four Peabody awards and a DuPont over 47 years. David Bloom, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025 This posits that dust in the disk congeals and condenses into centimeter-sized pebbles that then rapidly accumulate, accreting to form large rocky super-Earth-sized bodies that are massive enough to wield sufficient gravity to pull in lots of gas from the disk. Keith Cooper, Space.com, 13 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for accrete

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from accretion

First Known Use

1712, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of accrete was in 1712

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Accrete.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accrete. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.

Legal Definition

accrete

verb
ac·​crete ə-ˈkrēt How to pronounce accrete (audio)
accreted; accreting

intransitive verb

: to grow or become attached by accretion

transitive verb

: to cause to adhere or become attached
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!