Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- transitive v. To make larger or greater, as by increased growth.
- intransitive v. To grow together; fuse.
- intransitive v. To grow or increase gradually, as by addition.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- v. : To grow together, combine; to fuse.
- v. : To adhere; to grow or to be added to gradually.
- v. : To make adhere; to add; to make larger or more, as by growing.
- adj. Characterized by accretion; made up; as, accrete matter.
- adj. Grown together - Gray
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- intransitive v. To grow together.
- intransitive v. To adhere; to grow (to); to be added; -- with to.
- transitive v. To make adhere; to add.
- adj. Characterized by accretion; made up.
- adj. Grown together.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To grow by accretion; gather additions from without.
- To be added; adhere; become attached by a process of accretion.
- To cause to grow or unite.
- Grown together; formed by accretion; accreted.
- In biology, grown together: said of parts normally separate but naturally grafted. See accretion, 2.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. grow together (of plants and organs)
- v. grow or become attached by accretion
Etymologies
Examples
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And over the course of seven seasons, they accrete into interesting people as their backstories and personalities develop.
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If you buy them at a discount, you will be able to accrete the negative good will and get an immediate positive response in earnings.
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Soil, trees and fauna accrete to the zaratan, the monstrous whalelike creatures, which are being poachedfor bones and skin, killing off a whole ecosystem.
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Usually, plot is something I allow to accrete while I'm tending to things like characterization and mood and theme.
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One of the things that's always impressed me about the Stargate universe is how we gradually accrete technological advances (The various types of battleship, the 302s and the Pegasus Bridge all spring to mind).
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SFS: (Reader submitted) - One of the things that's always impressed me about the Stargate universe is how we gradually accrete technological advances (The various types of battleship, the 302s and the Pegasus Bridge all spring to mind).
INTERVIEW: Consulting Producer Joseph Mallozzi Talks About Plans for Stargate Universe
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The people who start religions -- or around whom religions accrete, like layers of silt -- are already in a space where other people yearn to be.
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One or two potent images that may, in time, accrete a plot around them.
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They could continue business as usual, in which case the subsidy reserve plus capital would accrete to the point where the firms actually become "too safe to fail."
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You can accrete wealth and trappings, eat good food, live in fine houses and enjoy a "good" life: just don't rock the boat.
chained_bear commented on the word accrete
Usage on dendrite.
November 11, 2008