piling

[ pahy-ling ]

/ ˈpaɪ lɪŋ /

noun

a mass of building piles considered collectively.

a structure composed of piles.

Nearby words

Origin of piling

First recorded in 1400–50, piling is from the late Middle English word pylyng. See pile², -ing¹

pile

[ pahyl ]

/ paɪl /

noun

an assemblage of things laid or lying one upon the other: a pile of papers; a pile of bricks.

Informal. a large number, quantity, or amount of anything: a pile of work.

a heap of wood on which a dead body, a living person, or a sacrifice is burned; pyre.

a lofty or large building or group of buildings: the noble pile of Windsor Castle.

Informal. a large accumulation of money: They made a pile on Wall Street.

a bundle of pieces of iron ready to be welded and drawn out into bars; fagot.

reactor(def 4).

Electricity. voltaic pile.

verb (used with object), piled, pil·ing.

to lay or dispose in a pile (often followed by up): to pile up the fallen autumn leaves.

to accumulate or store (often followed by up): to pile up money; squirrels piling up nuts against the winter.

to cover or load with a pile: He piled the wagon with hay.

verb (used without object), piled, pil·ing.

to accumulate, as money, debts, evidence, etc. (usually followed by up).

Informal. to move as a group in a more or less confused, disorderly cluster: to pile off a train.

to gather, accumulate, or rise in a pile or piles (often followed by up): The snow is piling up on the roofs.

Origin of pile

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin pīla pillar, mole of stone

SYNONYMS FOR pile

1. collection, heap, mass, accumulation, stack, mound, batch.

pile

[ pahyl ]

/ paɪl /

noun

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

before 1000; Middle English; Old English pīl shaft < Latin pīlum javelin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for piling

Evidence is piling up that as men do more of the caregiving, violence against women falls.
How Good Dads Can Change the World|Gary Barker, PhD, Michael Kaufman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But the students chanced it, piling into three buses for the dangerous journey back home.
Abducted, Tortured, Indoctrinated: The Tale of a Teen Who Escaped ISIS|Yusuf Sayman|August 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But it only barely makes up for the distress of watching the season of piling on.
‘Downton Abbey’ Finale Review: The Depressing Demise of a Once-Great Show|Kevin Fallon|February 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Heck, even the Pope is piling on, warning against greed as a “new idolatry.”
How Pope Francis’s Management Strategies Could Fix Wall Street|Chris Lowney|January 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The reporting errors out of Boston after the marathon blasts are piling up—and so is the finger-wagging on Twitter.
Boston Marathon Bombing Media Errors Pile Up, as Does the Outrage|Michael Moynihan|April 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
An old submarine filled with explosives was used to blow up the piling beside the Mole at Zeebrugge.
Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights|Kelly Miller
The task of piling up the wall was progressing rapidly, and it seemed to the boy that the stones were all falling from a distance.
Boy Scouts in the Northwest|G. Harvey Ralphson
He was busy pulling things off of the shelves and piling them up on the counters.
A House Party with the Tucker Twins|Nell Speed
Then I made them cut wood, and piling the coral above it, set it on fire.
The Coral Island|R.M. Ballantyne
I have a special motive for piling up examples of the use of symbols in dreams.
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis|Sigmund Freud

British Dictionary definitions for piling

piling

/ (ˈpaɪlɪŋ) /

noun

the act of driving piles

a number of piles

a structure formed of piles

pile

/ (paɪl) /

noun

a collection of objects laid on top of one another or of other material stacked vertically; heap; mound

informal a large amount of money (esp in the phrase make a pile)

(often plural) informal a large amounta pile of work

a less common word for pyre

a large building or group of buildings

short for voltaic pile

physics a structure of uranium and a moderator used for producing atomic energy; nuclear reactor

metallurgy an arrangement of wrought-iron bars that are to be heated and worked into a single bar

the point of an arrow

verb

(often foll by up) to collect or be collected into or as if into a pilesnow piled up in the drive

(intr; foll by in, into, off, out, etc) to move in a group, esp in a hurried or disorganized mannerto pile off the bus

pile arms to prop a number of rifles together, muzzles together and upwards, butts forming the base

pile it on informal to exaggerate

Word Origin for pile

C15: via Old French from Latin pīla stone pier

pile

/ (paɪl) /

noun

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)

heraldry an 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

/ (paɪl) /

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for piling

pile

n.1

"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

"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.

Medicine definitions for piling

pile

[ pīl ]

n.

A hemorrhoid.

Idioms and Phrases with piling

pile

In addition to the idioms beginning with pile

pile into
pile up

also see:

make a bundle (pile)

piling

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of piling

pile

noun

verb (used with object), piled, pil·ing.

verb (used without object), piled, pil·ing.

Origin of pile

pile

noun

verb (used with object), piled, pil·ing.

Origin of pile

Examples from the Web for piling

piling

noun

pile

noun

verb

Word Origin for pile

pile

noun

verb (tr)

Word Origin for pile

pile

noun

Word Origin for pile

pile

pile

pile

pile

pile

n.

pile