n. [ L. accretio, fr. accrescere to increase. Cf. Crescent, Increase, Accrue. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of increasing by natural growth; esp. the increase of organic bodies by the internal accession of parts; organic growth. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of increasing, or the matter added, by an accession of parts externally; an extraneous addition; as, an accretion of earth. [ 1913 Webster ]

A mineral . . . augments not by growth, but by accretion. Owen. [ 1913 Webster ]

To strip off all the subordinate parts of his narrative as a later accretion. Sir G. C. Lewis. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Concretion; coherence of separate particles; as, the accretion of particles so as to form a solid mass. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A growing together of parts naturally separate, as of the fingers or toes. Dana. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) (a) The adhering of property to something else, by which the owner of one thing becomes possessed of a right to another; generally, gain of land by the washing up of sand or soil from the sea or a river, or by a gradual recession of the water from the usual watermark. (b) Gain to an heir or legatee, by failure of a coheir to the same succession, or a co-legatee of the same thing, to take his share. Wharton. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. Marked or produced by accretion. [ WordNet 1.5 ]