[with obj.]gather together or acquire an increasing number or quantity of 聚集;积累 investigators have yet to accumulate enough evidence. 调查人员尚需收集足够的证据。 ■gradually gather or acquire (a resulting whole) (逐渐)积累 her goal was to accumulate a huge fortune. 她的目标是积累起一大笔财富。 ■[no obj.]gather; build up 积聚;堆积 the toxin accumulated in their bodies. 毒素在他们体内积聚。
语源
late 15th cent.: from Latin accumulat- 'heaped up', from the verb accumulare, from ad- 'to' + cumulus 'a heap'