Search Result for "accretion": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (6)

1. an increase by natural growth or addition;
[syn: accretion, accumulation]

2. something contributing to growth or increase;
- Example: "he scraped away the accretions of paint"
- Example: "the central city surrounded by recent accretions"

3. (astronomy) the formation of a celestial object by the effect of gravity pulling together surrounding objects and gases;

4. (biology) growth by addition as by the adhesion of parts or particles;

5. (geology) an increase in land resulting from alluvial deposits or waterborne sediment;

6. (law) an increase in a beneficiary's share in an estate (as when a co-beneficiary dies or fails to meet some condition or rejects the inheritance);


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

accretion \ac*cre"tion\ ([a^]k*kr[=e]"sh[u^]n), n. [L. accretio, fr. accrescere to increase. Cf. Crescent, Increase, Accrue.] [1913 Webster] 1. The act of increasing by natural growth; esp. the increase of organic bodies by the internal accession of parts; organic growth. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster] 2. The act of increasing, or the matter added, by an accession of parts externally; an extraneous addition; as, an accretion of earth. [1913 Webster] A mineral . . . augments not by growth, but by accretion. --Owen. [1913 Webster] To strip off all the subordinate parts of his narrative as a later accretion. --Sir G. C. Lewis. [1913 Webster] 3. Concretion; coherence of separate particles; as, the accretion of particles so as to form a solid mass. [1913 Webster] 4. A growing together of parts naturally separate, as of the fingers or toes. --Dana. [1913 Webster] 5. (Law) (a) The adhering of property to something else, by which the owner of one thing becomes possessed of a right to another; generally, gain of land by the washing up of sand or soil from the sea or a river, or by a gradual recession of the water from the usual watermark. (b) Gain to an heir or legatee, by failure of a coheir to the same succession, or a co-legatee of the same thing, to take his share. --Wharton. Kent. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

accretion n 1: an increase by natural growth or addition [syn: accretion, accumulation] 2: something contributing to growth or increase; "he scraped away the accretions of paint"; "the central city surrounded by recent accretions" 3: (astronomy) the formation of a celestial object by the effect of gravity pulling together surrounding objects and gases 4: (biology) growth by addition as by the adhesion of parts or particles 5: (geology) an increase in land resulting from alluvial deposits or waterborne sediment 6: (law) an increase in a beneficiary's share in an estate (as when a co-beneficiary dies or fails to meet some condition or rejects the inheritance)
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ACCRETION. The increase of land by the washing of the seas or rivers. Hale, De Jure Maris, 14. Vide Alluvion; Avulsion.