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.
Heraldry. an ordinary in the form of a wedge or triangle coming from one edge of the escutcheon, from the chief unless otherwise specified.
Archery. the sharp head or striking end of an arrow, usually of metal and of the form of a wedge or conical nub.
verb (used with object),piled,pil·ing.
to furnish, strengthen, or support with piles.
to drive piles into.
Origin of pile
2
before 1000;Middle English;Old Englishpīl shaft < Latinpīlum javelin
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)
heraldryan ordinary shaped like a wedge, usually displayed point-downwards
verb(tr)
to drive (piles) into the ground
to provide or support (a structure) with piles
Word Origin for pile
Old English pīl, from Latin pīlum
pile
3
noun
textiles
the yarns in a fabric that stand up or out from the weave, as in carpeting, velvet, flannel, etc
one of these yarns
soft fine hair, fur, wool, etc
Word Origin for pile
C15: from Anglo-Norman pyle, from Latin pilus hair
"mass, heap," early 15c., originally "pillar, pier of a bridge," from Middle French pile and directly from Latin pila "stone barrier, pillar, pier" (see pillar). Sense development in Latin from "pier, harbor wall of stones," to "something heaped up." In English, sense of "heap of things" is attested from mid-15c. (the verb in this sense is recorded from mid-14c.). The meaning "large building" (late 14c.) is probably the same word.
pile
n.2
"heavy pointed beam," from Old English pil "stake," also "arrow," from Latin pilum heavy javelin of the Roman foot soldier, literally "pestle" (source of Old Norse pila, Old High German pfil, German Pfeil "arrow"), of uncertain origin.
pile
n.3
"soft, raised surface upon cloth," mid-14c., "downy plumage," from Anglo-French pyle or Middle Dutch pijl, both from Latin pilus "a hair" (source of Italian pelo, Old French pel). Phonological evidence rules out transmission of the English word via Old French cognate peil, poil. Meaning "nap upon cloth" is from 1560s.
pile
v.
"to heap up," mid-14c.; see pile (n.1). Related: Piled; piling. Figurative verbal expression pile on "attack vigorously, attack en masse," is from 1894, American English.
