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.
Some witnessed the collapse of the towers, while others searched through piles of debris for human remains.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
The area is littered with massive piles of shells called middens, left by indigenous groups who ate the river’s wild oysters for more than a thousand years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Homeless encampments, piles of trash, vermin, and car break-ins have bedeviled the 4000 block of Babcock Avenue in Studio City since the property was abandoned, said neighbor Clint Ledsworth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
China also halted rescue efforts, with state media saying a lake formed by immense piles of debris had begun overflowing.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
He takes his half-finished work of almost twenty years, piles it into a cart, and leaves for Florence.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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.
