accretion

1. (uncountable, also figurative) Increase by natural growth, especially the gradual increase of organic bodies by the internal addition of matter; organic growth; also, the amount of such growth.Examples: "Warwick was unable to perceive much change in the market-house. […] There might have been a slight accretion of the moss and lichen on the shingled roof."; "The immense accretion of flesh which had descended on her in middle life like a flood of lava on a doomed city had changed her from a plump active little woman with a neatly-turned foot and ankle into something as vast and august as a natural phenomenon."Synonyms: accrescenceAntonyms: nonaccretionalsofigurativelyuncountable

2. (uncountable) (Gradual) increase by an external addition of matter; (countable) an instance of this.Examples: "Near-synonym: accumulation"; "A mineral augments not by growth, but by accretion."; "[…] Plants doe nouriſh; Inanimate Bodies doe not: They haue an Accretion, but no Alimentation."Synonyms: accrescenceAntonyms: nonaccretionuncountable

3. (uncountable) (Gradual) increase by an external addition of matter; (countable) an instance of this.Synonyms: accrescenceAntonyms: nonaccretion, attrition, erosioncountableuncountable

4. (uncountable, also figurative) Followed by of: external addition of matter to a thing which causes it to grow, especially in amount or size.Examples: "[W]hile ſome fevv grevv rich by turning Money in their ovvn Banks, there vvas a falſe Appearance of VVealth vvithin, but no Accretion of Riches from abroad."alsofigurativelyuncountable

5. (uncountable) The process of separate particles aggregating or coalescing together; concretion; (countable) a thing formed in this manner.Examples: "The accretion of particles forms a solid mass."; "[T]he vvhole Country of Holland ſeems to be an Accretion partly by the Sea, partly by the River Rhine."; "She had no fear of the shadows; her sole idea seemed to be to shun mankind—or rather that cold accretion called the world, which, so terrible in the mass, is so unformidable, even pitiable, in its units."uncountable

6. (uncountable) The process of separate particles aggregating or coalescing together; concretion; (countable) a thing formed in this manner.Examples: "This theory, known as pebble accretion, is reshaping how scientists think about the early solar system. […] "In many ways, pebble accretion is the most efficient way of adding mass to a body," says Lambrechts."countableuncountable