stack

American  

[stak] / stæk /

noun

• stacks
  plural

1. a more or less orderly pile or heap.

   a precariously balanced stack of books;

   a neat stack of papers.

2. a large, usually conical, circular, or rectangular pile of hay, straw, or the like (often used in combination).

   There was a strawstack in the corner of the field that the children liked to climb.

3. Informal. a large quantity or number.

   We've got a stack of great ideas for new projects, so I'm feeling optimistic about work.

   There are stacks of family fun to be had at our newly renovated amusement park.

4. Often stacks. a set of shelves for books or other materials ranged compactly one above the other, as in a library.

5. stacks, the area or part of a library in which the books and other holdings are stored or kept.

6. Computers.

   1. a data structure programmed to consist of elements added one at a time and only removable one at a time in order of recency.

   2. a data set or list arranged in this way, so that the last item stored is the first item retrieved or removed.

   3. memory dedicated to temporary storage of data arranged this way.

7. a number of chimneys or flues grouped together.

8. smokestack.

9. a vertical duct for conveying warm air from a leader to a register on an upper story of a building.

10. a vertical waste pipe or vent pipe serving a number of floors.

11. Slang. a large quantity of money, especially one thousand dollars.

    He spent two stacks on those jeans.

    A high-quality computer may cost a stack, but it'll last you longer than a cheap one.

12. Radio. an antenna consisting of a number of components connected in a substantially vertical series.

13. Military. a conical, free-standing group of three rifles placed on their butts and hooked together near the top of the barrel with an attached swivel.

14. Also called stackup, air stack. Aviation. a group of airplanes circling over an airport awaiting their turns to land.

15. an English measure for coal and wood, equal to 108 cubic feet (3 cu. m).

16. Geology. a column of rock isolated from a shore by the action of waves.

17. Games.

    1. a given quantity of chips that can be bought at one time, as in poker or other gambling games.

    2. the quantity of chips held by a player at a given point in a gambling game.

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verb (used with object)

• stacks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stacked,
  past participle,  past
• stacking
  present participle

1. to pile, arrange, or place in a more or less orderly heap.

   I spent all yesterday loading and stacking hay bales by hand.

   She stacked her papers and put away her tools, then got ready to leave.

2. to cover or load with something in stacks or piles.

   We stacked the car with luggage and headed out on our road trip.

3. to arrange or select unfairly in order to force a desired result, especially to load (a jury, committee, etc.) with members having a biased viewpoint.

   The lawyer charged that the jury had been stacked against his client.

4. to keep (a number of incoming airplanes) flying nearly circular patterns at various altitudes over an airport where crowded runways, a low ceiling, or other temporary conditions prevent immediate landings.

verb (used without object)

• stacks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stacked,
  past participle,  past
• stacking
  present participle

1. to be arranged in or form a stack.

   These chairs stack easily.

verb phrase

1. stack up

   1. Informal. to compare; measure up (often followed byagainst ).

      How does the movie stack up against the novel?

   2. Informal. to appear plausible or in keeping with the known facts.

      Your story just doesn't stack up.

   3. Aviation. to control the flight patterns of (airplanes waiting to land at an airport) so that each circles at a designated altitude.

idioms

1. stack the deck,

   1. to arrange cards or a pack of cards so as to cheat.

      He stacked the deck and won every hand.

   2. to manipulate events, information, etc., especially unethically, in order to achieve an advantage or desired result.

      Most players in the sport are amateurs, so having a professionally trained team member could really stack the deck in their favor.

2. blow one's stack, to lose one's temper or become uncontrollably angry, especially to display one's fury, as by shouting.

   When he came in and saw the mess he blew his stack.

stack British  

/ stæk /

noun

1. an ordered pile or heap

2. a large orderly pile of hay, straw, etc, for storage in the open air

3. (often plural) library science compactly spaced bookshelves, used to house collections of books in an area usually prohibited to library users

4. a number of aircraft circling an airport at different altitudes, awaiting their signal to land

5. a large amount

   a stack of work

6. military a pile of rifles or muskets in the shape of a cone

7. a measure of coal or wood equal to 108 cubic feet

8. See chimney stack smokestack

9. a vertical pipe, such as the funnel of a ship or the soil pipe attached to the side of a building

10. a high column of rock, esp one isolated from the mainland by the erosive action of the sea

11. an area in a computer memory for temporary storage

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verb

1. to place in a stack; pile

   to stack bricks on a lorry

2. to load or fill up with piles of something

   to stack a lorry with bricks

3. to control (a number of aircraft waiting to land at an airport) so that each flies at a different altitude

4. to prearrange the order of a pack of cards secretly so that the deal will benefit someone

stack Scientific  

/ stăk /

1. An isolated, columnar mass or island of rock along a coastal cliff. Stacks are formed by the erosion of cliffs through wave action and are larger than chimneys.

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stack More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing stack

• blow one's top (stack)
• cards are stacked
• needle in a haystack
• swear on a stack of bibles

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stacker
  noun
• restack
  verb (used with object)
• stackable
  adjective
• stackless
  adjective
• unstack
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stacks
  plural

Participles

• stacking
  present
• stacked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• stack
  simple
• stacks
  simple
• have stacked
  perfect
• has stacked
  perfect
• am stacking
  progressive
• are stacking
  progressive
• is stacking
  progressive
• have been stacking
  perfect progressive
• has been stacking
  perfect progressive

Past

• stacked
  simple
• had stacked
  perfect
• was stacking
  progressive
• were stacking
  progressive
• had been stacking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will stack
  simple
• will have stacked
  perfect
• will be stacking
  progressive
• will have been stacking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of stack

First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the noun) Middle English stak from Old Norse stakkr “haystack”; verb derivative of the noun

Explanation

A stack is a tidy pile, like the stack of books on your nightstand or the stack of pancakes on your plate at breakfast. You can also use stack as a verb meaning "to arrange in piles." If you stack the dollar bills you earned from your lemonade stand, you'll eventually have a stack of dollar bills. Unlike the similar word pile, stack implies a neat, orderly bundle, rather than a messy, haphazard one. When someone "stacks the deck," they cheat in order to achieve the outcome they want—sometimes literally, by arranging a deck of cards unfairly.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stack stacks stacked stacking

It’s just before the midweek lunch rush at Langer’s Deli and owner Norm Langer is behind the already-busy sandwich counter inspecting a stack of newly sliced rye bread.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

In doing so, they did not just beat Stoke in an FA Cup final, they collected a stack of titles and went on to completely dominate English football for more than a decade.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

But I’m not sitting there worrying about how high the stack is for the stack’s sake.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

Alphabet is uniquely positioned across the entire AI tech stack, spanning from its custom chips to distribution surfaces like YouTube and Android.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

I think of the stack of paper, the bills in the “to be paid” folder.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

But recently, stacks of Gulf-bound cargo have filled the previously empty container yard, diverted to Kenya by disruptions the Iran war has created in the Strait of Hormuz.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

That stacks up for a £4m keeper, you might think.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Wandering through the stacks of the old Bodhi Tree bookstore on Melrose.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

My $1,330.13 was, in other words, the accumulated sticker price of my particular trail through the stacks.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

He picks up the big pieces of glass and stacks them in a pile.

From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

The lineup is stacked with some of the biggest names in the genre, featuring Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Fisher + Chris Lake, Skrillex, Peggy Gou and Four Tet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Soon the menus are stacked, the pebbled Coke cups are sweating rings onto the table and somebody is pointing with a chip while saying, “No, no, tell her the part about —”

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

Authorities in Islamabad have stacked up shipping containers to block key access routes to the capital city.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

"Core inflation is still hovering well above target, and risks are firmly stacked to the upside because of the sharp rise in refined petroleum product prices in recent months," he said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

Dishes in the sink, yellowed newspapers stacked waist high, and a soiled handkerchief next to a sagging armchair.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

I just had to buy a car, which stung, but every other spare dollar goes toward stacking.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

“My mindset has just been stacking days,” Lance said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

The next captain, Rodri's future, City's starting XI for Sunday's Community Shield against Arsenal - the big decisions are stacking up as Maresca begins to settle into one of the biggest jobs on the planet.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

By stacking custom memory on top of the computing layer like Lego bricks, it eliminates data traffic jams—delivering memory bandwidth without foreign-made HBM.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

All the sounds build—Mom and Sue stacking plates in the kitchen, the scooting closer of chairs, the scrunching up of paper.

From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari

Related Words

• bundle
• heap
• mountain
• pyramid
• sheaf