{
    "term": "accumulate",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "academic": true,
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "accumulate",
            "heSheIt": "accumulates"
        },
        "pastSimple": "accumulated",
        "pastParticiple": "accumulated",
        "ingForm": "accumulating"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to gradually get more and more of something over a period of time",
            "sensetop": "accumulate something",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I seem to have accumulated a lot of books."
                },
                {
                    "text": "By investing wisely she accumulated a fortune."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We have accumulated a great amount of evidence."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Children gradually accumulate knowledge as they grow up."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the wealth he had accumulated over the years"
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "amass",
            "topics": ["Change, cause and effect"],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["gradually", "slowly", "steadily"],
                "verb + accumulate": ["begin to", "be allowed to", "tend to"],
                "phrases": ["accumulate over the years", "accumulate over time"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to gradually increase in number or quantity over a period of time",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Debts began to accumulate."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Dust and dirt soon accumulate if a house is not cleaned regularly."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Dirt must not be allowed to accumulate."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Evidence began to accumulate, suggesting that the drug had harmful side-effects."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Toxic chemicals tend to accumulate in the body."
                },
                {
                    "text": "seas and lakes where sedimentary deposits are slowly accumulating"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Change, cause and effect"],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["gradually", "slowly", "steadily"],
                "verb + accumulate": ["begin to", "be allowed to", "tend to"],
                "phrases": ["accumulate over the years", "accumulate over time"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈkjuːmjəleɪt/",
                "audio": "ac/accumulate/accumulate__gb_2.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈkjuːmjəleɪts/",
                "audio": "ac/accumulate/accumulates__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈkjuːmjəleɪtɪd/",
                "audio": "ac/accumulate/accumulated__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈkjuːmjəleɪtɪŋ/",
                "audio": "ac/accumulate/accumulating__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈkjuːmjəleɪt/",
                "audio": "ac/accumulate/accumulate__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈkjuːmjəleɪts/",
                "audio": "ac/accumulate/accumulates__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈkjuːmjəleɪtɪd/",
                "audio": "ac/accumulate/accumulated__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈkjuːmjəleɪtɪŋ/",
                "audio": "ac/accumulate/accumulating__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late 15th cent.: from Latin accumulat- ‘heaped up’, from the verb accumulare, from ad- ‘to’ + cumulus ‘a heap’."
}