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.
“I was definitely hesitant to ask, but I knew it would be something I would regret because the interest would just pile up over time,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 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
Empty plastic bottles pile up on the kerbs of its potholed streets.
From Barron's ● May 20, 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
The layers of instruments started to pile up.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
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.
