amassa‧mass /əˈmæs/ verb [transitive] 
For 25 years, Darwin amassed evidence to support his theories. He amassed a fortune after the war.► see thesaurus at collect
WORD ORIGINamass
Origin:
1400-1500 Old French amasser, from masser ‘to gather into a mass’VERB TABLE
amass
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | amass |
| he, she, it | amasses | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | amassed |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have amassed |
| he, she, it | has amassed | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had amassed |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will amass |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have amassed |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am amassing |
| he, she, it | is amassing | |
| you, we, they | are amassing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was amassing |
| you, we, they | were amassing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been amassing |
| he, she, it | has been amassing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been amassing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be amassing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been amassing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- During the course of her lifetime, Mrs. Boone amassed over $5 million.
- Over the years he had amassed an absolute fortune.
- The Lewins amassed their art collection over more than 40 years.
- He had time to amass a large repertoire of 32 concertos and many dozens of solo works.
- His father, of Gipton, Leeds, said his son had amassed a fortune.
- How did you amass such a fortune?
- In Loreauville, Louisiana, twenty Republicans, mostly blacks, entered the city cheering and shouting profanities at the amassed Democrats.
- On arrival in the New World, Tawell's wife found that her husband had amassed an immense fortune.
- Riordan has already amassed nearly $ 2 million in campaign contributions.
- The sheer weight of dicta amassed was intimidating, but Mr. Ashworth conceded he could find no authority actually binding on me.
- Under the old system many women amass secret savings unbeknown to their husbands.
THESAURUS
to get things of the same type from different places and bring them together: · She collects stamps (=as a hobby).· They have collected 650 signatures for their petition.
to collect information from different places, or to collect crops, flowers, wood etc, especially from the ground: · Computers make it easier to gather information.· The men gathered firewood.
formal to collect something such as information in an organized way: · When all the evidence is assembled, we will write our report.
to gradually collect more things of the same type over time: · He has built up one of the country’s finest collections of art.
to gradually get more and more of something such as money, possessions, or knowledge, over time. Accumulate is more formal than build up: · He is driven by the desire to accumulate wealth.
to collect a large amount of something such as money, information, or knowledge, over time: · Carnegie amassed a fortune in the steel industry.
informal to allow a debt to increase quickly, especially by spending too much: · He ran up huge gambling debts.
Longman Language Activatorto get more of something over a long period of time to gradually get more and more money, possessions, knowledge etc over a period of time: · Watkins said he has accumulated more than $100,000 in legal bills.· By the late 1950s scientists had already accumulated enough evidence to show a clear link between smoking and cancer.· I just don't know how we've managed to accumulate so much junk!
to gradually collect a very large amount of something such as money or properly: · The Lewins amassed their art collection over more than 40 years.· Over the years he had amassed an absolute fortune.
formal to gradually get more of a useful skill or a good quality: · It took her a long time to gain enough confidence to speak in public.· She stayed in the job for five years, gaining valuable experience.· His ideas are gaining a lot of support.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY He amassed a fortune after the war.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
if you amass money, knowledge, information etc, you gradually collect a large amount of it: He amassed a fortune after the war. formal· The two men amassed a remarkable collection of medieval manuscripts.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· The Lewins amassed the collection over more than 40 years.
· On arrival in the New World, Tawell's wife found that her husband had amassed an immense fortune.· How did you amass such a fortune?· Soon, John Piper had amassed a considerable fortune.· He was a career civil servant who had allegedly amassed a fortune.· His father, of Gipton, Leeds, said his son had amassed a fortune.· I was beyond fury at this little creature, who had spoiled my chances at amassing a fortune of pink clay.· Before the end of the Interregnum he had amassed a modest fortune and had begun styling himself gentleman.· Before he was jailed in 1995 for six years for indecent assault, Allen amassed a multimillion-dollar fortune.
For 25 years, Darwin amassed evidence to support his theories. He amassed a fortune after the war.► see thesaurus at collect