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.
In vast warehouses at the Kamoa copper mine in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, mountains of reddish rocks pile up as the machines grind away day and night.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
The losses have continued to pile up this term: Once again, the 5th Circuit looks poised to have the highest reversal rate of any appeals court.
From Slate ● Jun. 12, 2026
That’s what has allowed them to pile up points against Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs’ 7-foot-4 phenom who, until the Finals, spent the playoffs torturing opposing offenses across the NBA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
But data from last month showed apparel makers appeared to relent, as costs from the Iran war and the U.S.-led trade war pile up.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
“Why, you pile up your hands, choose a number, and draw out in turn, and the person who draws at the number has to answer truly any question put by the rest. It’s great fun.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
