as in to accumulate
to gradually form into a layer, pile, or mass
silt accreting at the mouth of the river over time
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Recent Examples of accrete
Some of these black holes spit out some of the accreting gas into intergalactic space in the form of relativistic jets, further stripping the galaxy of the star-bearing medium.
—
Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 2 Jan. 2025
Despite this enormous size, the black hole is actually accreting–or eating–gas at a very low rate.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 18 Dec. 2024
An artist’s illustration of an accreting supermassive black hole.
—Fan Zou, Discover Magazine, 20 July 2024
There is also a supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy (Sgr A*), but there is not yet enough material that has accreted for astronomers to pick up any emitted radiation, even in the infrared.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 18 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for accrete
Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 2 Jan. 2025
Despite this enormous size, the black hole is actually accreting–or eating–gas at a very low rate.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 18 Dec. 2024
An artist’s illustration of an accreting supermassive black hole.
—Fan Zou, Discover Magazine, 20 July 2024
There is also a supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy (Sgr A*), but there is not yet enough material that has accreted for astronomers to pick up any emitted radiation, even in the infrared.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 18 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for accrete
Recent Examples of Synonyms for accrete
Verb
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For example, an American house accumulates an average of 300,000 objects, with more money spent each year on shoes, jewelry and clothes than on higher education.—
Ana Morales,
Vogue,
16 Apr. 2025
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The rookies this season accumulated 0.054 win shares per 48 minutes—the ninth lowest of the past 40 seasons, but still significantly above recent seasons such as 2014, 2015 and 2017, as well as the infamously unproductive 2001 cohort.—
Lev Akabas,
Sportico.com,
16 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Accrete.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/accrete. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
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