stockpile
Americannoun
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a supply of material, as a pile of gravel in road maintenance.
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a large supply of some metal, chemical, food, etc., gathered and held in reserve for use during a shortage or during a period of higher prices.
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a quantity, as of munitions or weapons, accumulated for possible future use.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stockpilesimple
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stockpilessimple
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have stockpiledperfect
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has stockpiledperfect
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am stockpilingprogressive
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are stockpilingprogressive
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is stockpilingprogressive
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have been stockpilingperfect progressive
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has been stockpilingperfect progressive
Past
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stockpiledsimple
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had stockpiledperfect
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was stockpilingprogressive
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were stockpilingprogressive
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had been stockpilingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stockpile
Explanation
A stockpile is a large amount of something that you save for later. If you're worried about running out of your favorite flavor of bubble gum, you might decide to keep a stockpile of it. If you hear the word stockpile on the news, it's probably referring to weapons which are accumulated and saved by a country that might need to use them some day in the future. You can use stockpile to describe the actual cache of weapons and also as a verb, to describe the act of storing them. The word was originally a mining term that literally described a pile of ore. During World War II, stockpile became a more general term.
Vocabulary lists containing stockpile
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme
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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:
According to Kpler data, Beijing can comfortably suppress its crude imports for another six months, based on the rate it is drawing on its enormous stockpile of oil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The U.S. and Iran were party to a deal that reduced Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
The country entered the pandemic with its stockpile of masks, gowns and gloves in a "perilous state" and was "simply not ready to compete" in the global race to secure new supplies, Hallett said.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
He can target Iran’s oil infrastructure or enriched-uranium stockpile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
He imagined himself showing them the stockpile under his bed.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
However, not everyone views the depleted US stockpiles as purely a liability.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
On that subject, he dismissed concerns that US ammunition stockpiles were running low nearly five months after war broke out.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
For long-term investors, tailwinds for aerospace and defense contractors include the need for the U.S. to replenish various stockpiles depleted during the conflict with Iran.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
The U.S. military’s own weapons stockpiles, including crucial drone and missile interceptors, were expended in the first period of the war.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
At Birkenau, we had seen the stockpiles of riches in “Canada,” the camp storehouse.
From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz
So far, the Zcash hoarding company has stockpiled more than 300,000 of the tokens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
And the young, selfless team around him is putting the squeeze on opponents with ridiculous depth, much of it stockpiled via that trade.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
Much of it was placed underground and reliable analysis on how much they have is scanty, but Shapiro believed the Chinese might have 1.2 billion barrels stockpiled — 104 days of storage.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
China, the biggest importer of crude oil in the world, has enough stockpiled to get it through the next few months.
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026
“Sure,” Glenn said, “after I found out where she stockpiled her ammunition and hid it from her.”
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
He argues the drop reflects the end of China’s streak of oil stockpiling, rather than weaker end-user demand from long-term trends such as rising EV adoption.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Chelsea see the stockpiling of players as an investment they can cash in on when needed.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Services may only return on Wednesday, Endre Marton Laszlo, a local MP from the ruling Tisza party, told AFP, urging people "to use water sparingly" and to resist from "stockpiling water".
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Policymakers may be able to use these insights to develop shared stockpiling programs, diversify refining and manufacturing capacity, and better assess the broader effects of trade restrictions or economic decoupling strategies.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 2026
That’s why he was the one stockpiling for Y2K, so she wouldn’t have to worry.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
