Meaning
- Accumulate is a verb that means to gradually collect or gather things over time, often resulting in a large quantity. It can refer to physical objects, wealth, knowledge, or abstract things such as stress or debt.
Grammar and Usage
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Verb (transitive/intransitive):
- transitive: to gather something over time (She accumulated wealth through hard work.)
- intransitive: to increase or build up gradually (Dust accumulated on the shelves.)
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Patterns:
- accumulate + noun → He accumulated experience in management.
- accumulate in/on → Water accumulated in the basement.
Common Phrases
- accumulate wealth – to gather money or assets over time.
- accumulate knowledge – to build up knowledge through study and experience.
- accumulate debt – to gradually owe more money.
- accumulate evidence – to gather proof over time.
Collocations
- steadily accumulate
- accumulate rapidly
- accumulate interest
- accumulate experience
- accumulate capital
Examples
- Over the years, she managed to accumulate a small fortune.
- Dust tends to accumulate in hard-to-reach corners.
- He accumulated knowledge about ancient history through reading.
- Many students accumulate debt while attending university.
- Stress can accumulate if you don’t take time to rest.
- The river accumulated large amounts of sediment.
- The company accumulated evidence of fraud before taking legal action.
- His savings accumulated steadily in the bank.
Synonyms or Related
- gather
- collect
- amass
- build up
- pile up