cresc-, -cret, -crease

1. The growth or increase in size by gradual external addition, accumulation, fusion, inclusion, or the growing together of separate things.

People who have money in the bank may expect interest to accrue or to grow as the years pass; so there are those who may then refer of the accretion of their capital.

2. In astronomy, a process in which matter that is revolving around an astronomical object is gradually pulled in and added to the body's mass as a result of gravity.
3. A process by which a body of rock or a landmass increases in size as a result of material accumulating on or around it resulting from alluvial deposits or water-borne sediments.

A disk of interstellar material surrounding a celestial object with an intense gravitational field; such as, a black hole.

1. A reference to increasing by growth; growing.
2. Growing by accretion; that is, increasing or becoming greater or larger.
3. Foreign material, such as plaque or calculus, which collects on the surface of a tooth or in a cavity.

1. To come to a person as a gain, an addition, or an increment: "She was happy to see interest accruing in her savings account."

"People who have money in the bank are hoping that interest will accrue or grow as the years pass; so, there are those who count on the accretion of their capital."

2. To increase, to accumulate, or to come about as a result of some kind of growth: "He was told that common sense usually accrues with experience."
3. To come into existence as a claim that is legally enforceable: "Interest on his home loan is accruing and must be paid each month or he could lose his property."
4. To accumulate over time: "They are accruing more time off for their vacations."

A reference to something that is periodically accumulated over time: "According to the terms of his home loan, he will have to pay off the accrued interest every month."

"There are those who are hoping to get back all of the money they invested, plus the accrued interest and dividends."

The principal in his bank account is so small, he'll never get enough in accrued interest to live on nor to pay off any of his debts."

The adjective accrued comes from the Old French word acreu, "growth" or "increase", which is what the modern word means; that is, something that grows or accumulates over time.

1. A strong hard building material composed of sand, gravel, cement, and water; all of which have "grown together" to make a solid mass.
2. A hard, strong construction material consisting of sand, conglomerate gravel, pebbles, broken stone, or slag in a mortar or cement matrix formed by the coalescence of those separate particles or parts into one mass; a solid.
3. A mixture of cement, sand, aggregate, and water in specific proportions which hardens into a strong stony consistency over varying lengths of time.
4. Etymology: "actual, solid" from Latin concretus, "condensed, hardened, thick, hard, stiff, curdled, congealed, clotted"; figuratively "thick; literally, "grown together"; past participle of concrescere, "to grow together"; from com-, "together" + crescere, "to grow".

1. Existing in a material kor physical form; real or solid; not abstract: "Objects like buildings, cars, etc. are physically concrete forms."
2.Being specific or definite: "So far, the police don't have any concrete evidence that the boy actually broke the window of the neighbor's car."

1. A reference to naming a real thing or class of things.
2. Relating to an actual, specific thing or instance; particular.
3. Existing in reality or in real experience; perceptible by the senses; real.
4. A reference to a material thing or group of things as opposed to an abstraction.

1. Existing in a material or physical form; not abstract or based on general principles or theories rather than on specific instances.
2. Denoting a material or solid object as opposed to an abstract quality, state, or action; such as, a concept or term that does not refer to a concrete object but denotes a quality, emotion, or idea

1. The process in which separate parts or particles come together into a solid mass; such as, a hard lump produced by the concretion of mineral salts which are found in hollow organs or ducts of the body: "The doctor told him that there were concretions in his kidneys; which are commonly called, "kidney stones".
2. A hard solid mass formed by parts uniting into a whole; for example, an increase in the density of something.
3. A mass of inorganic material in a body organ or tissue, usually caused by a disease in the formation of stonelike objects within a body organ; for example, the kidneys.

1. Tending to form a solid mass from separate particles; as, concretive juices.
2. Formed by the coalescence of particles; that is, descriptive of something being condensed into a solid.

1. A reference to constituting an actual thing or instance; real.
2. Pertaining to or concerned with realities or actual instances rather than abstractions; being particular.

1. In music, a gradual increase or to grow in loudness: "The audience could hear a gradual increase in the crescendo of the sympathy."
2. An increase in volume or intensity similar to a crescendo in music: "The excitement of the audience reached its crescendo when the singer came on the stage."
3. A musical instruction to gradually increase the volume: "The musicians were following the directions of the conductor to begin the crescendo of the musical performance."
4. At a peak or apex of intensity: "Complaints about the unemployment and other economic conditions have reached such a crescendo that it will be very difficult for the current political party to be re-elected."

1. Increasing, as the light of the moon seems to increase in size during its first quarter.
2. The crescent of the moon is so called because it is increasing in size from night to night: "A crescent is used with reference to the moon in its first quarter (some dictionaries also say, the last quarter) and it is applied to anything of similar shape."

"Other things resemble the shapes of a crescent; for example, a curved pastry or the curved streets that often present a continuous façade; such as, rows of houses."

3. Etymology: from Latin crescentum, crescens from crescere, "to come forth, to spring up, to grow, to thrive, to swell, to increase in numbers or strength".

1. To grow or to cause something to grow gradually less or smaller, as in number, amount, or intensity.
2. The process of diminishing in size, strength, or amount.
3. Reducing the size, strength, or amount of something.