1 accrete | Definition of accrete

accrete

verb
ac·​crete | \ É™-ˈkrÄ“t How to pronounce accrete (audio) \
accreted; accreting

Definition of accrete

intransitive verb

: to grow or become attached by accretion

transitive verb

: to cause to adhere or become attached also : accumulate

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Examples of accrete in a Sentence

silt accreting at the mouth of the river over time

Recent Examples on the Web

This speed limit can theoretically be exceeded if the matter is collapsing fast enough; Basu and Das’ model suggests the black holes were accreting matter at three times the Eddington rate for as long as the chain reaction was happening. Meredith Fore, WIRED, "Where Do Supermassive Black Holes Come From?," 18 July 2019 This produces what are called luminous accreting black holes. Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Galaxy mergers hide ravenous supermassive black holes," 14 Nov. 2018 Their models further suggest that PDS 70b itself has a circumplanetary disc of material that is accreting to its surface. Daniel Clery, Science | AAAS, "In a first, astronomers witness the birth of a planet from gas and dust," 2 July 2018 The action accelerates as slowly as a stair car, accreting new subplots like hop-ons. New York Times, "Review: ‘Arrested Development’ Chases Its Past, Slowly," 28 May 2018 Those filaments could have shaped the direction in which matter accreted onto these galaxies’ haloes, some scientists say. Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "New observations of galaxies challenge the standard cosmological model," 1 Feb. 2018 On the other hand, the rental bikes often seem to be scattered about the city in clumps: a phalanx of bikes accreting outside a Metro station, on a street corner, in a park. John Kelly, Washington Post, "You can park a dockless bike-share bicycle anywhere. But you shouldn’t.," 19 Feb. 2018 Filling the bench is a project whose impact will accrete slowly, with one decision at a time by judges who hold their jobs for decades. Tessa Berenson, Time, "Inside Trump's Plan to Dramatically Reshape U.S. Courts," 8 Feb. 2018 The moon itself is thought to be a chunk of the Earth that was smashed off in an enormous collision and then accreted from the debris. Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "The Moon Had a Thick Atmosphere Billions of Years Ago, NASA Study Finds," 5 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'accrete.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of accrete

1712, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

History and Etymology for accrete

back-formation from accretion

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More Definitions for accrete

accrete

verb
ac·​crete | \ É™-ˈkrÄ“t How to pronounce accrete (audio) \
accreted; accreting

Legal Definition of accrete

intransitive verb

: to grow or become attached by accretion

transitive verb

: to cause to adhere or become attached

More from Merriam-Webster on accrete

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with accrete

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for accrete

Britannica English: Translation of accrete for Arabic Speakers