piling
Americannoun
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pilings
plural
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a mass of building piles considered collectively.
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a structure composed of piles.
noun
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the act of driving piles
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a number of piles
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a structure formed of piles
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of piling
First recorded in 1400–50, piling is from the late Middle English word pylyng; see pile 2, -ing 1
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.
See Examples For:
An AFP reporter saw machinery piling up twisted and charred metal.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
Financial losses began piling up following years of excessive spending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
While plenty of investors are piling into technology stocks, sharp market swings mean the bets don't always pay off, with prices often moving on every major headline.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Riley, who was in his first head coaching job at Oklahoma, got the better of Patterson in each of their four meetings, piling up at least 498 total yards each time out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
The others explained that the snow was early, that we were never supposed to see it, but there it was, piling up around us as we tried to sleep at night.
From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown
Boats have toppled pilings, and hard landings have cracked sterns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
For outdoor adventure enthusiasts, there is also a new dock with concrete pilings, boat and jet ski lifts, and vinyl bulkhead that are situated on a 75 x 160 waterfront lot.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 12, 2026
About 300 pilings were destroyed, with some barnacle-covered beams turning up in the Monterey Harbor, 25 miles south.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2025
It’s the University of Maine’s contribution to a worldwide race to improve floating machines to tap wind that blows across deeper waters offshore, too deep to attach turbines to the seabed with permanent pilings.
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024
Did he know that his grandfather had helped to drive the pilings for the wharf at South Beach Bay landing?
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
