pile

¹ American  

[pahyl] / paɪl /

noun

1. an assemblage of things laid or lying one upon the other.

   a pile of papers;

   a pile of bricks.

   Synonyms:

   batch, mound, stack, accumulation, mass, heap, collection

2. Informal. a large number, quantity, or amount of anything.

   a pile of work.

3. a heap of wood on which a dead body, a living person, or a sacrifice is burned; pyre.

4. a lofty or large building or group of buildings.

   the noble pile of Windsor Castle.

5. Informal. a large accumulation of money.

   They made a pile on Wall Street.

6. a bundle of pieces of iron ready to be welded and drawn out into bars; fagot.

7. reactor.

8. Electricity. voltaic pile.

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verb (used with object)

piled, piling

1. to lay or dispose in a pile (often followed byup ).

   to pile up the fallen autumn leaves.

2. to accumulate or store (often followed byup ).

   to pile up money; squirrels piling up nuts against the winter.

3. to cover or load with a pile.

   He piled the wagon with hay.

verb (used without object)

piled, piling

1. to accumulate, as money, debts, evidence, etc. (usually followed byup ).

2. Informal. to move as a group in a more or less confused, disorderly cluster.

   to pile off a train.

3. to gather, accumulate, or rise in a pile or piles (often followed byup ).

   The snow is piling up on the roofs.

verb phrase

1. pile on

   1. to add or give in a plentiful or excessive manner: My mother-in-law finds a way to pile on more criticism of my life choices every time we visit.

      This ice cream shop really piles on the toppings.

      My mother-in-law finds a way to pile on more criticism of my life choices every time we visit.

   2. Sports. to jump onto the pile of bodies after an opponent has been brought to the ground and the play has been ended.

   3. to join a hostile group in harshly criticizing or judging a less dominant group or individual, sometimes gloating over that group’s or person's defeat or diminished standing.

pile ² American  

[pahyl] / paɪl /

noun

1. a cylindrical or flat member of wood, steel, concrete, etc., often tapered or pointed at the lower end, hammered vertically into soil to form part of a foundation or retaining wall.

2. Heraldry. an ordinary in the form of a wedge or triangle coming from one edge of the escutcheon, from the chief unless otherwise specified.

3. Archery. the sharp head or striking end of an arrow, usually of metal and of the form of a wedge or conical nub.

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verb (used with object)

piled, piling

1. to furnish, strengthen, or support with piles.

2. to drive piles into.

idioms

1. in pile, (of a number of charges) arranged in the manner of a pile.

pile ³ American  

[pahyl] / paɪl /

noun

1. a fabric with a surface of upright yarns, cut or looped, as corduroy, Turkish toweling, velvet, and velveteen.

2. such a surface.

3. one of the strands in such a surface.

4. soft, fine hair or down.

5. wool, fur, or pelage.

6. hair.

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pile ⁴ American  

[pahyl] / paɪl /

noun

1. Usually piles a hemorrhoid.

2. piles, the condition of having hemorrhoids.

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pile ⁵ American  

[pahyl] / paɪl /

noun

1. the lower of two dies for coining by hand.

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pile ¹ British  

/ paɪl /

noun

1. a collection of objects laid on top of one another or of other material stacked vertically; heap; mound

2. informal a large amount of money (esp in the phrase make a pile )

3. informal (often plural) a large amount

   a pile of work

4. a less common word for pyre

5. a large building or group of buildings

6. short for voltaic pile

7. physics a structure of uranium and a moderator used for producing atomic energy; nuclear reactor

8. metallurgy an arrangement of wrought-iron bars that are to be heated and worked into a single bar

9. the point of an arrow

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verb

1. (often foll by up) to collect or be collected into or as if into a pile

   snow piled up in the drive

2. (intr; foll by in, into, off, out, etc) to move in a group, esp in a hurried or disorganized manner

   to pile off the bus

3. to prop a number of rifles together, muzzles together and upwards, butts forming the base

4. informal to exaggerate

pile ² British  

/ paɪl /

noun

1. a long column of timber, concrete, or steel that is driven into the ground to provide a foundation for a vertical load (a bearing pile) or a group of such columns to resist a horizontal load from earth or water pressure (a sheet pile)

2. heraldry an ordinary shaped like a wedge, usually displayed point-downwards

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verb

1. to drive (piles) into the ground

2. to provide or support (a structure) with piles

pile ³ British  

/ paɪl /

noun

1. textiles

   1. the yarns in a fabric that stand up or out from the weave, as in carpeting, velvet, flannel, etc

   2. one of these yarns

2. soft fine hair, fur, wool, etc

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pile More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing pile

• make a bundle (pile)

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Etymology

Origin of pile¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin pīla “pillar, pier, pile of stone”

Origin of pile²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English pil(e) “pointed missile, arrow, dart,” Old English pīl “pointed stick, shaft,” from Latin pīlum “throwing spear, javelin”

Origin of pile³

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English piles “hair, plumage,” from Latin pilus “a hair”

Origin of pile⁴

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English piles, pyles (plural), from Medieval Latin pili (masculine plural), from Latin pilae (feminine plural), literally, “balls” (from their shape); cf. pill ¹

Origin of pile⁵

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English pil, pile, pyl “reverse of a coin,” from Medieval Latin pīla, special use of Latin pīla pile ¹

Explanation

A pile is a heap of stuff that keeps accumulating, like the dirty laundry in the back of your closet, or Uncle Scrooge’s money. Pile can be used as a noun or a verb. If you pile rocks on top of each other, you will eventually have a...pile of rocks. Unlike the word stack, pile implies that your heap of stuff is fairly messy. It can also mean cram. When eight people pile into a car with only five seats, they’re likely to be pretty much squashed.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pile piled piling

"Many children are sleeping on a pile of clothes, or maybe just on the hard floor," said Ashley Wilcox from Care Zone, adding: "That's not good enough."

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

They join a growing pile of bills on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk as the legislature nears the end of its two-year session, which adjourns early this week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

They are products from life-insurance companies, backed by bond portfolios and strictly regulated by state governments, which convert a pile of money into a guaranteed lifetime income.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

He’s given Acme a pile of money for defective rocket-powered roller skates and flying suits and gotten zilch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

An egg hard-boiled for one pocket, another for his hand, a pile of stones.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

Shares of Lumentum have climbed 553% over the past year, and shares of Coherent have gained 204%, as investors have piled into the networking trade.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

Hrgovic weathered the storm and piled on the pressure in the ninth.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

Sometimes it ended up piled high on a hoagie roll.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

It’s lunchtime at Fountain Grains & Greens in East Hollywood, a counter-service restaurant where customers increasingly prefer their rice and vegetable bowls piled high with hunks of chicken or steak.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

We piled into the canoe, me copying what everyone else was doing because no one paid me any attention.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

Kedrosky is troubled that fixed-income investors are piling money into data-center projects backed by hyperscalers without really understanding what is happening in those data centers and whether they are sufficiently utilized.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

A fourth-down stop at the goal line gave San José State a brief respite from USC piling on points.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

Engineers and investors are piling into world models, aka “large action models,” to do for robotics what ChatGPT did for writing and coding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

An AFP reporter saw machinery piling up twisted and charred metal.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

Keeps him away by talking with Olivia about the growing, growing numbers of their GoFundMe, about the invitations that are piling up for her to visit schools and community centers.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Related Words

• accumulation
• assortment
• chunk
• hill
• hunk
• jumble
• lump
• mass
• mountain
• ocean
• pyramid
• quantity
• stack
• stockpile