pile

[ pahyl ]

/ paɪl /

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See synonyms for: pile / piled / piles / piling on Thesaurus.com

noun

an assemblage of things laid or lying one upon the other: a pile of papers;a pile of bricks.

Informal. a large number, quantity, or amount of anything: a pile of work.

a heap of wood on which a dead body, a living person, or a sacrifice is burned; pyre.

a lofty or large building or group of buildings: the noble pile of Windsor Castle.

Informal. a large accumulation of money: They made a pile on Wall Street.

a bundle of pieces of iron ready to be welded and drawn out into bars; fagot.

reactor (def. 4).

Electricity. voltaic pile.

verb (used with object), piled, pil·ing.

to lay or dispose in a pile (often followed by up): to pile up the fallen autumn leaves.

to accumulate or store (often followed by up): to pile up money; squirrels piling up nuts against the winter.

to cover or load with a pile: He piled the wagon with hay.

verb (used without object), piled, pil·ing.

to accumulate, as money, debts, evidence, etc. (usually followed by up).

Informal. to move as a group in a more or less confused, disorderly cluster: to pile off a train.

to gather, accumulate, or rise in a pile or piles (often followed by up): The snow is piling up on the roofs.

Verb Phrases

pile on,

to add or give in a plentiful or excessive manner: This ice cream shop really piles on the toppings.My mother-in-law finds a way to pile on more criticism of my life choices every time we visit.
Sports. to jump onto the pile of bodies after an opponent has been brought to the ground and the play has been ended.
to join a hostile group in harshly criticizing or judging a less dominant group or individual, sometimes gloating over that group’s or person's defeat or diminished standing.

OTHER WORDS FOR pile

1 collection, heap, mass, accumulation, stack, mound, batch.

See synonyms for pile on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of pile

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin pīla “pillar, pier, pile of stone”

Words nearby pile

pilau, pilch, pilchard, Pilcomayo, pilcrow, pile, pilea, pileate, pileated, pileated woodpecker, pile cap

Other definitions for pile (2 of 5)

pile²

[ pahyl ]

/ paɪl /

noun

a cylindrical or flat member of wood, steel, concrete, etc., often tapered or pointed at the lower end, hammered vertically into soil to form part of a foundation or retaining wall.

Heraldry. an ordinary in the form of a wedge or triangle coming from one edge of the escutcheon, from the chief unless otherwise specified.

Archery. the sharp head or striking end of an arrow, usually of metal and of the form of a wedge or conical nub.

verb (used with object), piled, pil·ing.

to furnish, strengthen, or support with piles.

to drive piles into.

Origin of pile

First recorded before 1000; Middle English pil(e) “pointed missile, arrow, dart,” Old English pīl “pointed stick, shaft,” from Latin pīlum “throwing spear, javelin”

Other definitions for pile (3 of 5)

pile³

[ pahyl ]

/ paɪl /

noun

a fabric with a surface of upright yarns, cut or looped, as corduroy, Turkish toweling, velvet, and velveteen.

such a surface.

one of the strands in such a surface.

soft, fine hair or down.

wool, fur, or pelage.

hair (def. 1).

Origin of pile

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English piles “hair, plumage,” from Latin pilus “a hair”

Other definitions for pile (4 of 5)

pile⁴

[ pahyl ]

/ paɪl /

noun

Usually piles . a hemorrhoid.

piles, the condition of having hemorrhoids.

Origin of pile

⁴

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English piles, pyles (plural), from Medieval Latin pili (masculine plural), from Latin pilae (feminine plural), literally, “balls” (from their shape); cf. pill¹

Other definitions for pile (5 of 5)

pile⁵

[ pahyl ]

/ paɪl /

noun

the lower of two dies for coining by hand.

Origin of pile

⁵

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English pil, pile, pyl “reverse of a coin,” from Medieval Latin pīla, special use of Latin pīla pile¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pile in a sentence

The player whose card has a higher rank wins the turn and places both cards on the bottom of their pile.
The Fifth Battle For Riddler Nation|Zach Wissner-Gross|September 4, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
At tables spread out around a room, citizen scientists of all ages and all backgrounds inspected piles of scat.
Are coyotes moving into your neighborhood?|Kathryn Hulick|September 3, 2020|Science News For Students
They’ll slice apples and cheese with aplomb, but if you use one to try and cut up a pile of cardboard, it’ll be dull by the end of that task.
Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Knife|Wes Siler|September 3, 2020|Outside Online
Right now, those piles present a fire risk and are costly to manage.
California and the Forest Service have a plan to prevent future catastrophic fires|Ula Chrobak|August 27, 2020|Popular-Science

If there’s a pile of sand, you intuitively know this is a pile of sand.
What Is an Individual? Biology Seeks Clues in Information Theory.|Jordana Cepelewicz|July 16, 2020|Quanta Magazine
What you see is a massive, well-intentioned, legal junk pile.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans|Philip K. Howard|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The correspondent does a stand-up next to a burning pile of heroin and gets a taste of its effect.
BBC Reporter Gets High On The Job|Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hitchcock leans toward me in a conspiratorial, almost lascivious, way and says, “Let's pile on the menace.”
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Pre-sizing eliminates the opportunity to pile those taters too high.
12 Thanksgiving Weight Loss Tips That Actually Work|DailyBurn|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Inside a box I could see a pile of whips, chains, ball gags, and hoods.
Whip It: Secrets of a Dominatrix|Justin Jones|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is a lofty and richly-decorated pile of the fourteenth century; and tells of the labours and the wealth of a foreign land.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
They soon had a large pile heaped up in the middle of the road which led through the forest.
The Nursery, July 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 1|Various
A-course, Mrs. Bridger got a nice little pile of money fer it, and paid Curry the balance she owed him.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher|Eleanor Gates
Even Konnel had a small pile before him, although he seemed to be losing some of Lilac's attention to Meadows.
Fee of the Frontier|Horace Brown Fyfe
"There was a pile of 'em that high, Mark," said Perry, waving his hands about a foot above the table.
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd

British Dictionary definitions for pile (1 of 3)

pile¹

/ (paɪl) /

noun

a collection of objects laid on top of one another or of other material stacked vertically; heap; mound

informal a large amount of money (esp in the phrase make a pile)

(often plural) informal a large amounta pile of work

a less common word for pyre

a large building or group of buildings

short for voltaic pile

physics a structure of uranium and a moderator used for producing atomic energy; nuclear reactor

metallurgy an arrangement of wrought-iron bars that are to be heated and worked into a single bar

the point of an arrow

verb

(often foll by up) to collect or be collected into or as if into a pilesnow piled up in the drive

(intr; foll by in, into, off, out, etc) to move in a group, esp in a hurried or disorganized mannerto pile off the bus

pile arms to prop a number of rifles together, muzzles together and upwards, butts forming the base

pile it on informal to exaggerate

Word Origin for pile

C15: via Old French from Latin pīla stone pier

British Dictionary definitions for pile (2 of 3)

pile²

/ (paɪl) /

noun

a long column of timber, concrete, or steel that is driven into the ground to provide a foundation for a vertical load (a bearing pile) or a group of such columns to resist a horizontal load from earth or water pressure (a sheet pile)

heraldry an ordinary shaped like a wedge, usually displayed point-downwards

verb (tr)

to drive (piles) into the ground

to provide or support (a structure) with piles

Word Origin for pile

Old English pīl, from Latin pīlum

British Dictionary definitions for pile (3 of 3)

pile³

/ (paɪl) /

noun

textiles

the yarns in a fabric that stand up or out from the weave, as in carpeting, velvet, flannel, etc
one of these yarns

soft fine hair, fur, wool, etc

Word Origin for pile

C15: from Anglo-Norman pyle, from Latin pilus hair

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with pile

pile

In addition to the idioms beginning with pile

pile into
pile up

also see:

make a bundle (pile)

pile

OTHER WORDS FOR pile

Origin of pile

Words nearby pile

Other definitions for pile (2 of 5)

Origin of pile

Other definitions for pile (3 of 5)

Origin of pile

Other definitions for pile (4 of 5)

Origin of pile

Other definitions for pile (5 of 5)

Origin of pile

Words related to pile

How to use pile in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pile (1 of 3)

Word Origin for pile

British Dictionary definitions for pile (2 of 3)

Word Origin for pile

British Dictionary definitions for pile (3 of 3)

Word Origin for pile

Other Idioms and Phrases with pile