cumulative action

Cumulative \Cu"mu*la*tive\ (k?"m?-l?-t?v), a. [Cf. F.
   cumulatif.]
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   1. Composed of parts in a heap; forming a mass; aggregated.
      "As for knowledge which man receiveth by teaching, it is
      cumulative, not original." --Bacon
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   2. Augmenting, gaining, or giving force, by successive
      additions; as, a cumulative argument, i. e., one whose
      force increases as the statement proceeds.
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            The argument . . . is in very truth not logical and
            single, but moral and cumulative.     --Trench.
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   3. (Law)
      (a) Tending to prove the same point to which other
          evidence has been offered; -- said of evidence.
      (b) Given by same testator to the same legatee; -- said of
          a legacy. --Bouvier. --Wharton.
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   {Cumulative action} (Med.), that action of certain drugs, by
      virtue of which they produce, when administered in small
      doses repeated at considerable intervals, the same effect
      as if given in a single large dose.

   {Cumulative poison}, a poison the action of which is
      cumulative.

   {Cumulative vote} or {Cumulative system of voting}
      (Politics), that system which allows to each voter as many
      votes as there are persons to be voted for, and permits
      him to accumulate these votes upon one person, or to
      distribute them among the candidates as he pleases.
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