pile

1
[ pahyl ]
See synonyms for: pilepiledpilespiling on Thesaurus.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

  5. Electricity. voltaic pile.

verb (used with object),piled, pil·ing.
  1. to lay or dispose in a pile (often followed by up): to pile up the fallen autumn leaves.

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

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

verb (used without object),piled, pil·ing.
  1. to accumulate, as money, debts, evidence, etc. (usually followed by up).

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

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

Verb Phrases
  1. 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.

Origin of pile

1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin pīla “pillar, pier, pile of stone”

Other words for pile

Words Nearby pile

Other definitions for pile (2 of 5)

pile2
[ pahyl ]

noun
  1. 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.

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

  1. 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.
  1. to furnish, strengthen, or support with piles.

  2. to drive piles into.

Origin of pile

2
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 ]

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

  2. such a surface.

  1. one of the strands in such a surface.

  2. soft, fine hair or down.

  3. wool, fur, or pelage.

Origin of pile

3
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English piles “hair, plumage,” from Latin pilus “a hair”

Other definitions for pile (4 of 5)

pile4
[ pahyl ]

noun
  1. Usually piles . a hemorrhoid.

  2. 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 ]

noun
  1. 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. 2024

How to use pile in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pile (1 of 3)

pile1

/ (paɪl) /


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

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

  1. (often plural) informal a large amount: a pile of work

  2. a less common word for pyre

  3. a large building or group of buildings

  4. short for voltaic pile

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

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

  7. the point of an arrow

verb
  1. (often foll by up) to collect or be collected into or as if into a pile: snow piled up in the drive

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

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

  2. pile it on informal to exaggerate

Origin of pile

1
C15: via Old French from Latin pīla stone pier

British Dictionary definitions for pile (2 of 3)

pile2

/ (paɪl) /


noun
  1. 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)

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

verb(tr)
  1. to drive (piles) into the ground

  2. to provide or support (a structure) with piles

Origin of pile

2
Old English pīl, from Latin pīlum

British Dictionary definitions for pile (3 of 3)

pile3

/ (paɪl) /


noun
  1. textiles

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

    • one of these yarns

  2. soft fine hair, fur, wool, etc

Origin of pile

3
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)

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.