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.
They complain that she frequently canceled meetings and allowed hundreds of motions to pile up without getting moved through council.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
A normal correction in one industry feels like a market crash, and the damage can pile up quickly when the entire portfolio depends on the same trade.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
“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
In vast warehouses at the Kamoa copper mine in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, mountains of reddish rocks pile up as the machines grind away day and night.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
Even if I’m here just through Monday, the rumors will start flying, and the homework will pile up.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
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.
