a. 1. Characterized by accretion; made up; as, accrete matter. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Grown together. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ From L. accretus, p. p. of accrescere to increase. ] 1. To grow together. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To adhere; to grow (to); to be added; -- with to. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make adhere; to add. Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ]

a. Relating to accretion; increasing, or adding to, by growth. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. alecret, halecret, hallecret. ] A kind of light armor used in the sixteenth century, esp. by the Swiss. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. concretus, p. p. of concrescere to grow together; con- + crescere to grow; cf. F. concret. See Crescent. ] 1. United in growth; hence, formed by coalition of separate particles into one mass; united in a solid form. [ 1913 Webster ]

The first concrete state, or consistent surface, of the chaos must be of the same figure as the last liquid state. Bp. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Logic) (a) Standing for an object as it exists in nature, invested with all its qualities, as distinguished from standing for an attribute of an object; -- opposed to abstract. Hence: (b) Applied to a specific object; special; particular; -- opposed to general. See Abstract, 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

Concrete is opposed to abstract. The names of individuals are concrete, those of classes abstract. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

Concrete terms, while they express the quality, do also express, or imply, or refer to, some subject to which it belongs. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Concrete number, a number associated with, or applied to, a particular object, as three men, five days, etc., as distinguished from an abstract number, or one used without reference to a particular object. --
Concrete quantity, a physical object or a collection of such objects. Davies & Peck. --
Concrete science, a physical science, one having as its subject of knowledge concrete things instead of abstract laws. --
Concrete sound or movement of the voice, one which slides continuously up or down, as distinguished from a discrete movement, in which the voice leaps at once from one line of pitch to another. Rush. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A compound or mass formed by concretion, spontaneous union, or coalescence of separate particles of matter in one body. [ 1913 Webster ]

To divide all concretes, minerals and others, into the same number of distinct substances. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A mixture of gravel, pebbles, or broken stone with cement or with tar, etc., used for sidewalks, roadways, foundations, etc., and esp. for submarine structures. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Logic) A term designating both a quality and the subject in which it exists; a concrete term. [ 1913 Webster ]

The concretes “father” and “son” have, or might have, the abstracts “paternity” and “filiety”. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Sugar Making) Sugar boiled down from cane juice to a solid mass. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Concreted; p. pr & vb. n. Concreting. ] To unite or coalesce, as separate particles, into a mass or solid body. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Applied to some substances, it is equivalent to indurate; as, metallic matter concretes into a hard body; applied to others, it is equivalent to congeal, thicken, inspissate, coagulate, as in the concretion of blood. “The blood of some who died of the plague could not be made to concrete.” Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To form into a mass, as by the cohesion or coalescence of separate particles. [ 1913 Webster ]

There are in our inferior world divers bodies that are concreted out of others. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cover with, or form of, concrete, as a pavement. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a concrete manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being concrete. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. concretio. ] 1. The process of concreting; the process of uniting or of becoming united, as particles of matter into a mass; solidification. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A mass or nodule of solid matter formed by growing together, by congelation, condensation, coagulation, induration, etc.; a clot; a lump; a calculus. [ 1913 Webster ]

Accidental ossifications or deposits of phosphates of lime in certain organs . . . are called osseous concretions. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Geol.) A rounded mass or nodule produced by an aggregation of the material around a center; as, the calcareous concretions common in beds of clay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Concretionary. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or formed by, concretion or aggregation; producing or containing concretions. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Promoting concretion. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a concrete manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mass formed by concretion. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. cretaceus, fr. creta chalk. See Crayon. ] 1. Having the qualities of chalk; abounding with chalk; chalky; as, cretaceous rocks and formations. See Chalk. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a chalky manner; as chalk. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a thin layer of geologic deposits, of varying thickness in different parts of the world, found between the geological strata identified as Cretaceous and the strata above, identified as Tertiary; also, the time point or period marking the boundary between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods.
Syn. -- K/T boundary. [ PJC ]

☞According to a theory gaining acceptance (as of 1997), these deposits were formed as the debris of a large comet or meteorite impact on the earth, which threw up a large quantity of dust into the atmosphere, causing profound though temporary climatic change, and caused or hastened the extinction of numerous species, including the dinosaurs. This hypothesis was first postulated by Luis and Walter Alvarez on the basis of an excess of iridium found in the boundary layer, and was later supported by additional evidence of various types. The impact is believed to have occurred at the edge of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, forming what is termed the Chicxulub crater, which is partly under the Gulf of Mexico, is not evident from surface topography, and was detected primarily by gravity anomaly readings and subsurface geological characteristics. [ PJC ]

2. (Geol.) Of, pertaining to, or designating, the period of time following the Jurassic and preceding the Tertiary, generally given as from 144 million years b. p. to 65 million years b. p.. Also called . [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

Cretaceous acid, an old name for carbonic acid. --
Cretaceous formation (Geol.), the series of strata of various kinds, including beds of chalk, green sand, etc., formed in the Cretaceous period; -- called also the chalk formation. See the Diagram under Geology. --
Cretaceous period (Geol.), the time in the latter part of the Mesozoic age during which the Cretaceous formation was deposited, and at the end of which the dinosaurs died out. See Cretaceous. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

a. Pertaining to Crete, or Candia. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Crete or Candia. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. Cres, Cretis. ] A Cretan [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. See Cretan. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. Creticus (sc. pes foot), Gr. Kritiko`s (sc. poy`s foot), prop., a Cretan (metrical) foot. ] (Gr. & Lat. Pros.) A poetic foot, composed of one short syllable between two long ones (- ˘ -). Bentley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Falsehood; lying; cretism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. crétin; of uncertain origin. ] One afflicted with cretinism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. crétinisme. ] A condition of endemic or inherited idiocy, accompanied by physical degeneracy and deformity (usually with goiter), frequent in certain mountain valleys, esp. of the Alps. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the characteristics of a cretin. “Cretinous stupefaction.” Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; lying, fr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; to act like a Cretan, that is, to lie. “The Cretians are always liars.” Titus i. 12. ] A Cretan practice; lying; a falsehood. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., gr. Creton, its first manufacturer. ] 1. A strong white fabric with warp of hemp and weft of flax. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fabric with cotton warp and woolen weft. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A kind of chintz with a glossy surface. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. cretosus, fr. creta chalk. ] Chalky; cretaceous. [ Obs. ] Ash. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. decretalis, fr. decretum. See Decree. ] Appertaining to a decree; containing a decree; as, a decretal epistle. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. decretale, neut. of L. decretalis. See Decretal, a. ] 1. (R. C. Ch.) An authoritative order or decree; especially, a letter of the pope, determining some point or question in ecclesiastical law. The decretals form the second part of the canon law. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Canon Law) The collection of ecclesiastical decrees and decisions made, by order of Gregory IX., in 1234, by St. Raymond of Pennafort. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. decretum. See Decree. ] A decree. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From L. decrescere, decretum. See Decrease. ] A decrease. [ Obs. ] Pearson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. decretista, fr. decretum: cf. F. décrétiste. See Decree, n. ] One who studies, or professes the knowledge of, the decretals. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From L. decretum. See Decree, n. ] Having the force of a decree; determining. [ 1913 Webster ]

The will of God is either decretive or perceptive. Bates. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Decretory; authoritative. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a decretory or definitive manner; by decree. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. decretorius, from decretum. See Decree. ] 1. Established by a decree; definitive; settled. [ 1913 Webster ]

The decretory rigors of a condemning sentence. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Serving to determine; critical. “The critical or decretory days.” Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To separate. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. discretus, p. p. of discernere. See Discreet. ] 1. Separate; distinct; disjunct. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Disjunctive; containing a disjunctive or discretive clause; as, “I resign my life, but not my honor, ” is a discrete proposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) Separate; not coalescent; -- said of things usually coalescent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Discrete movement. See Concrete movement of the voice, under Concrete, a. --
Discrete proportion, proportion where the ratio of the means is different from that of either couplet; as, 3:6::8:16, 3 bearing the same proportion to 6 as 8 does to 16. But 3 is not to 6 as 6 to 8. It is thus opposed to continued or continual proportion; as, 3:6::12:24. --
Discrete quantity, that which must be divided into units, as number, and is opposed to continued quantity, as duration, or extension. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Separately; disjunctively. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. discrétion, L. discretio separation, difference, discernment, fr. discernere, discretum. See Discreet, Discern. ] 1. Disjunction; separation. [ Obs. ] Mede. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The quality of being discreet; wise conduct and management; cautious discernment, especially as to matters of propriety and self-control; prudence; circumspection; wariness. [ 1913 Webster ]

The better part of valor is discretion. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The greatest parts without discretion may be fatal to their owner. Hume. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Discrimination. [ 1913 Webster ]

Well spoken, with good accent and good discretion. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Freedom to act according to one's own judgment; unrestrained exercise of choice or will. [ 1913 Webster ]

At discretion, without conditions or stipulations. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } adv. At discretion; according to one's discretion or judgment. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ }[ Cf. F. discrétionnaire. ] Left to discretion; unrestrained except by discretion or judgment; as, an ambassador with discretionary powers.

a. [ L. discretivus. See Discrete. ] Marking distinction or separation; disjunctive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Discretive proposition (Logic & Gram.), one that expresses distinction, opposition, or variety, by means of discretive particles, as but, though, yet, etc.; as, travelers change their climate, but not their temper. [ 1913 Webster ]