| accrete | (v) grow together (of plants and organs), Example: After many years the rose bushes grew together |
| accrete | (v) grow or become attached by accretion, Example: The story accreted emotion |
| accretion | (n) an increase by natural growth or addition, Syn. accumulation |
| accretion | (n) something contributing to growth or increase, Example: he scraped away the accretions of paint; the central city surrounded by recent accretions |
| accretion | (n) (astronomy) the formation of a celestial object by the effect of gravity pulling together surrounding objects and gases |
| accretion | (n) (biology) growth by addition as by the adhesion of parts or particles |
| accretion | (n) (geology) an increase in land resulting from alluvial deposits or waterborne sediment |
| accretion | (n) (law) an increase in a beneficiary's share in an estate (as when a co-beneficiary dies or fails to meet some condition or rejects the inheritance) |
| accretionary | (adj) marked or produced by accretion |
| accretive | (adj) growing by accretion |
| accrete | a. |
| accrete | v. i. [ From L. accretus, p. p. of accrescere to increase. ] |
| accrete | v. t. To make adhere; to add. Earle. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| accretion | n. [ L. accretio, fr. accrescere to increase. Cf. Crescent, Increase, Accrue. ] [ 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 ] |
| accretionary | adj. Marked or produced by accretion. [ WordNet 1.5 ] |
| accretive | a. Relating to accretion; increasing, or adding to, by growth. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ] |