\Ac*cre"tion\, n. [L. accretio, fr. accrescere to
increase. Cf. {Crescent}, {Increase}, {Accrue}.]
1. The act of increasing by natural growth; esp. the increase
   of organic bodies by the internal accession of parts;
   organic growth. --Arbuthnot.
2. The act of increasing, or the matter added, by an
   accession of parts externally; an extraneous addition; as,
   an accretion of earth.
         A mineral . . . augments not by grown, but by
         accretion.                            --Owen.
         To strip off all the subordinate parts of his as a
         later accretion.                      --Sir G. C.
                                               Lewis.
3. Concretion; coherence of separate particles; as, the
   accretion of particles so as to form a solid mass.
4. A growing together of parts naturally separate, as of the
   fingers toes. --Dana.
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 sail 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, failure of a coheir to the
       same succession, or a co-legatee of the same thing, to
       take his share. --Wharton. Kent.