stack
Americannoun
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a more or less orderly pile or heap.
a precariously balanced stack of books;
a neat stack of papers.
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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.
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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.
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Often stacks. a set of shelves for books or other materials ranged compactly one above the other, as in a library.
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stacks, the area or part of a library in which the books and other holdings are stored or kept.
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Computers.
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a data structure programmed to consist of elements added one at a time and only removable one at a time in order of recency.
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a data set or list arranged in this way, so that the last item stored is the first item retrieved or removed.
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memory dedicated to temporary storage of data arranged this way.
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a number of chimneys or flues grouped together.
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a vertical duct for conveying warm air from a leader to a register on an upper story of a building.
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a vertical waste pipe or vent pipe serving a number of floors.
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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.
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Radio. an antenna consisting of a number of components connected in a substantially vertical series.
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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.
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Also called stackup. Also called air stack,. Aviation. a group of airplanes circling over an airport awaiting their turns to land.
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an English measure for coal and wood, equal to 108 cubic feet (3 cu. m).
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Geology. a column of rock isolated from a shore by the action of waves.
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Games.
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a given quantity of chips that can be bought at one time, as in poker or other gambling games.
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the quantity of chips held by a player at a given point in a gambling game.
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verb (used with object)
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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.
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to cover or load with something in stacks or piles.
We stacked the car with luggage and headed out on our road trip.
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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.
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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)
verb phrase
idioms
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stack the deck,
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to arrange cards or a pack of cards so as to cheat.
He stacked the deck and won every hand.
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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.
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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.
noun
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an ordered pile or heap
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a large orderly pile of hay, straw, etc, for storage in the open air
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(often plural) library science compactly spaced bookshelves, used to house collections of books in an area usually prohibited to library users
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a number of aircraft circling an airport at different altitudes, awaiting their signal to land
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a large amount
a stack of work
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military a pile of rifles or muskets in the shape of a cone
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a measure of coal or wood equal to 108 cubic feet
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a vertical pipe, such as the funnel of a ship or the soil pipe attached to the side of a building
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a high column of rock, esp one isolated from the mainland by the erosive action of the sea
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an area in a computer memory for temporary storage
verb
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to place in a stack; pile
to stack bricks on a lorry
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to load or fill up with piles of something
to stack a lorry with bricks
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to control (a number of aircraft waiting to land at an airport) so that each flies at a different altitude
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to prearrange the order of a pack of cards secretly so that the deal will benefit someone
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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stackernoun
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restackverb (used with object)
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stackableadjective
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stacklessadjective
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unstackadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stacksimple
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stackssimple
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have stackedperfect
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has stackedperfect
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am stackingprogressive
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are stackingprogressive
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is stackingprogressive
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have been stackingperfect progressive
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has been stackingperfect progressive
Past
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stackedsimple
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had stackedperfect
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was stackingprogressive
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were stackingprogressive
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had been stackingperfect progressive
Future
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
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:
See how the rest of the extras stack up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
The new tariffs won’t stack on top of existing duties on steel and aluminum, which were imposed under a different section of U.S. trade law.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Meanwhile, Eric pulls them around on a rug he rigged as a magic carpet and helps stack the blocks into towers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
The brick stack has hundreds of those toaster-like heating elements throughout.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
As I shuffle through the random objects in search of a key, the shelves wobble and a stack of papers falls from the top shelf.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
Amid rows of camp beds and stacks of food supplies at a makeshift shelter in Bordeaux, thousands of tourists and locals try to regain their composure after fleeing wildfires sweeping through southwest France.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
He found fertility advice from men who were having the same experience on online forums and YouTube, with many suggesting "fool-proof fertility stacks".
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
There’s nothing about it in New York City’s municipal archives or the stacks of the Queens Historical Society.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
D’Amaro has started integrating the company’s disparate tech stacks so Disney can better track what consumers are doing at Disneyland, watching on Hulu or buying for their kids.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Dubivko walked through compartments crowded with pipes and valves, engines and batteries, sleeping bunks and stacks of supplies, busy young men at controls.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Lauer said Giftory's roughly 30 employees get a premium AI subscription costing about $200 a month -- "peanuts" stacked against an average salary of $100,000 a year, and cheap enough to make offshoring "uncompetitive."
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
A Spain side stacked with star names have sneaked their way into the World Cup final, where they ultimately triumph in a bruising encounter against the Netherlands with an extra-time Andres Iniesta winner.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
There are fluorescent lights, sweated-out windows, pizzas stacked like evidence, and the unshakable feeling that every other shopper is experiencing their first day on earth while glitching gently in front of the popsicles.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
They are raising concerns that, stacked together, they leave a more lasting imprint on how households and businesses set wages and prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
His army stacked it up and shipped it out.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
They “had to find workarounds, whether through open-sourcing software, stacking less powerful and cheaper local chips, investing more in China’s electricity grid.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
More than a century ago, psychologist Wolfgang Köhler showed that chimpanzees could suddenly solve unfamiliar problems by combining objects in new ways, such as stacking boxes to reach a banana hanging overhead.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 3, 2026
That enabled stacking to become a core part of founders’ early plans, and it will constrain the administration’s ability to combat stacking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
"We are stacking up bookings for weeks to come and the inquiries are difficult to keep up with, but creates a lot of business," he added.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
He turned back to Vola, who was cross stacking kindling.
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
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.
