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 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 it can’t export, unsold products pile up at home and contribute to deflationary worries.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
When contradictions pile up, they are chalked up to style rather than substance.
From Salon • Mar. 2, 2026
Teasing you along, letting you pile up a little paper profit, then bang!
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
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.
