pile up
Britishverb
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to gather or be gathered in a pile; accumulate
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informal to crash or cause to crash
noun
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Accumulate, as in The leaves piled up in the yard , or He piled up a huge fortune . In this idiom pile means “form a heap or mass of something.” [Mid-1800s]
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Be involved in a crash, as in When the police arrived, at least four cars had piled up . [Late 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The lawyer said he hoped the massive verdict would serve as a wake-up call for the department and the city as more lawsuits pile up over less-lethal weapons.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
In Kenya, tea sellers are watching stocks pile up unsold as maritime trade lines come under pressure and shipping insurance spikes.
From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026
In a blog post, the band's former press officer Stuart Bailie recalled telling the papers that a "pile up of snow on the venues makes it too hazardous" to play, because "a roof might collapse".
From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026
When contradictions pile up, they are chalked up to style rather than substance.
From Salon • Mar. 2, 2026
Soon the chunks would grow and pile up and form one solid mass that would cover the bay for months, making it impassable for ships and shutting down the Port of Churchill for the season.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
