stockpile
Americannoun
-
stockpiles
plural
-
a supply of material, as a pile of gravel in road maintenance.
-
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.
-
a quantity, as of munitions or weapons, accumulated for possible future use.
verb (used with object)
-
stockpiles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stockpiled,
past participle, past
-
stockpiling
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
stockpiles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stockpiled,
past participle, past
-
stockpiling
present participle
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
stockpilesimple
-
stockpilessimple
-
have stockpiledperfect
-
has stockpiledperfect
-
am stockpilingprogressive
-
are stockpilingprogressive
-
is stockpilingprogressive
-
have been stockpilingperfect progressive
-
has been stockpilingperfect progressive
Past
-
stockpiledsimple
-
had stockpiledperfect
-
was stockpilingprogressive
-
were stockpilingprogressive
-
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:
The move, which GM disclosed Tuesday in a regulatory filing, aims to give suppliers enough capital to maintain production and potentially stockpile parts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
The family must grapple with a dwindling stockpile of resources and the mysterious “threat” that keeps them trapped inside the home, the statement read.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
The Gavi global vaccine alliance maintains a stockpile of 500,000 Ervebo doses.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
The Defense Logistics Agency has already asked for bids to stockpile up to 403 tons of indium over three years — more than a third of a year’s global output.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
A Jesuit mathematician did the geometry calculations to determine the distance to a stockpile of gunpowder the Dutch had brought ashore and the angle of elevation at which the cannon should be set.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Experts say that’s due in part to reduced global demand and the release of strategic stockpiles.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
The shift may also indicate the limited military options left available to the United States, where the press has reported that American munitions stockpiles have been heavily depleted.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
They know about the diminishing stockpiles of key U.S. weapons such as advanced missile interceptors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
But as countries deplete their stockpiles at record rates, there could be sustained price increases by the end of the year, analysts said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
And the best way to send this message was by massive and ongoing buildups of their stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
It has manufactured and stockpiled around 620,000 doses.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 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
The situation has left investors glued to satellite imagery of tanker traffic and estimates of how much oil, gasoline and other petroleum products various countries have stockpiled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
In contrast, once food can be stockpiled, a political elite can gain control of food produced by others, assert the right of taxation, escape the need to feed itself, and engage full-time in political activities.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Organizations working with Haitians in Springfield started stockpiling supplies and forming ICE patrols to prepare for a similar enforcement surge as in Minneapolis — but the surge never arrived.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Chelsea have been stockpiling players for more than a decade, dating back to former owner Roman Abramovich's reign.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
The company is stockpiling components ahead of schedule, but expects the benefit to diminish in future quarters.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
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
Her stockpiling of power had wreaked havoc on nature.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
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.
