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 Lakers are digging into their bench while injuries pile up.
From Los Angeles Times
The first signs of dementia are often found in a person’s finances, such as erratic spending and/or unpaid bills that start piling up, according to this paper, “The Financial Consequences of Undiagnosed Memory Disorders.”
From MarketWatch
Mistakes piled up for a defense that was relying on inexperienced players at every level.
From Los Angeles Times
But after 11 years - and with the rubbish still piling up - the scheme is being shelved because it "failed to show a tangible result".
From BBC
As a result the vehicle has been piling up on dealer lots even with hefty discounts, according to industry data.
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.
