A Quick and Simple Dictionary

accretion

1. Noun.  The act of increasing by natural growth; especially the increase of organic bodies by the internal accession of parts; organic growth.
2. Noun.  The act of increasing, or the matter added, by an accession of parts externally; an extraneous addition; as, an ''accretion'' of earth.
3. Noun.  concretion; coherence of separate particles; as, the ''accretion'' of particles so as to form a solid mass.
4. Noun.  A growing together of parts naturally separate, as of the fingers or toes.
5. Noun.  (legal) 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 sail from the sea or a river, or by a gradual recession of the water from the usual watermark.
6. Noun.  (legal) Gain to an heir or legatee, failure of a coheir to the same succession, or a co-legatee of the same thing, to take his share.