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.
At the lower Rangpo area, close to the Teesta River, only a mosque remains, surrounded by piles of sand, some reaching the height of its roof.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
He testified that he went about 200 to 300 feet up, to where piles of hose were being dropped.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026
Animals were often cooked and eaten, and their bones discarded in waste piles where exposure to heat and weather gradually breaks down genetic material.
From Science Daily • Mar. 7, 2026
Nearly three months on, the building still carries the attack in its bones: insurers picking through debris, piles of glass heaped by the entrance, the auditorium a burnt-out shell.
From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026
As the front of the wave slows, the water behind it piles on.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
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.
