accrete
accrete — verb
- accretepresent simple I / you / we / they
- accretes3rd person singular
- accreting-ing form
- accretedpast simple
1. to grow larger over time as new material, layers, or particles are attached to t
to grow larger over time as new material, layers, or particles are attached to the outside of a mass — either happening naturally or caused by an external process such as a chemical reaction, gravity, or legal agreement.
Over millions of years, fine sediment accreted along the river delta, slowly building new land.
intransitive: [material] accretes [location, time]
In the laboratory, the team accretes a thin layer of metal onto each silicon wafer.
transitive: [agent] accretes [substance] onto [surface]
Interest on the unpaid loan balance accretes every quarter and is added to the principal amount.
Coral polyps accrete calcium carbonate, forming the hard skeleton of the reef.
It took millions of years for gas and dust in the nebula to accrete into planets.
- accumulate
broader term — can happen in a pile or a heap, not necessarily by surface attachment
- amass
implies a deliberate agent (a person or group) collecting things, not a natural process
- build up
informal phrasal verb; does not specify the mechanism of layer-by-layer attachment
文法句型
[material/intangible] accrete [adverbial]
[agent] accrete [substance] onto [surface]
[material] accrete into [larger body]
用法筆記
Primarily used in formal or academic writing rather than everyday speech. Frequent in earth science, astronomy, biology, and finance. The intransitive use ("sediment accrete") is more common than the transitive ("a process accretes something"). Also often appears in the passive voice ("layers are accreted").