piles
Britishplural noun
Etymology
Origin of piles
C15: from Latin pilae balls (referring to the appearance of external piles)
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.
Those piles can alert homeowners to an infestation, but there is a catch: old pellets can remain long after termites have disappeared.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Some witnessed the collapse of the towers, while others searched through piles of debris for human remains.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
As the waves bashed the coast this week, boulders smashed into the piles of Mitchell Leib’s Malibu home, plucking them like a “guitar string” and shaking his house.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Once it identifies a top “high-confidence trade”—and checks again that it meets a certain list of criteria—it piles in, aiming to ride the momentum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
I licked my lips at the sight of all the food stacked in piles for winter.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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.
