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Glite Dictionary
🌱 To grow slowly 🌸 To fuse together
to accrete

to accrete

9.9
To join by growing together so two parts become one
  • verb
  • /əˈkriːt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fusionar
  • So it's the same way that muscles accrete to appear.

Examples

  • A nova occurs in a binary star system in which gas from a normal star accretes onto the surface of its companion white dwarf star.

    Academic text (1994)

  • During its growth, the tree's branches accrete seamlessly, forming a thick canopy.

  • Over time, the layers of sediment accrete at the bottom of the lake, creating a rich geological record.

  • As the embryo develops, various tissues and organs accrete to shape a fully formed organism.

Synonyms

to grow together
vsto accrete
4 3.9

To join so closely that two things become one, for example plants or bones

is specific to plant or organ fusion during development
to agglomerate
vsto accrete
1 8.4

To join together to form a mass or cluster

is about biological fusion rather than mere clustering
coalescing
vsto accrete
6.8

Growing or joining together to form a single whole

is limited to biological growth and organ fusion
to agglutinate
vsto accrete
  • Specialized
9.6

To stick together and form clumps, as cells or particles

is about developmentally fused tissues not mere clumping

Antonyms

separate
829 2.1

Not joined to another thing and kept apart

How Fused

to fuse
44 3.9
to accrete
  • Specialized
9.9
to adhere
17 5.2
join
11 2.9

Surface Forms

accrete infinitive
accreted past
accreted past participle
accreting present participle
accretes third person singular

Etymology

The word accrete comes from Latin parts ad- 'to' and crescere 'to grow'. Picture parts that slowly join and become one, like roots or plant parts, and that helps explain why accrete can mean to 'grow together' or 'join into one'.