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 result is that the U.S. is sitting on as much as 2 million tons of copper, according to BMO Capital Markets, effectively a giant private-sector stockpile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
They also said Europe’s strategic reserves of gasoline are four times smaller than its stockpile of diesel.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
It wants us to stockpile canned food and drinking water, strengthen our civic resilience, and plan for the possibility of war.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
To deal with shortfalls and delays, the Pentagon is "working to streamline procurement processes and production lead times, and to stockpile critical materials, components, and selected munitions," the report said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
McNeish pried nails from Endurance’s distorted decking and made a stockpile of scrap lumber, including the lumber that had been meant for the expedition's winter hut.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
The Times reports on the agreement by G7 countries to release 100 million barrels of "emergency stockpiles of fuel and avert a US export ban".
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
However, they noted that the release of European strategic stockpiles of diesel could offset around half of that price rise.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
The war started in late February, just around the time refiners the world over were building up their jet-fuel stockpiles ahead of the summer travel season.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Meanwhile, oil stockpiles continue dropping toward record lows, as highlighted by a new analysis from the S&P Global Energy Fuels and Refining team, which warned “winter is coming for diesel markets.”
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
The Saudis, the Iranians, the Iraqis, they called the shots, they were the ones with the vast stockpiles of oil, not the Americans, where the holes were running dry.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Tehran is using stockpiled components and working in underground facilities, officials from the U.S. and Middle East familiar with the matter said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Mum-of-three Kay Devonshire-Murphy, from Fareham, said she stockpiled uniforms across the year from charity shops and second hand sales.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
It has manufactured and stockpiled around 620,000 doses.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
DOHA, Qatar-With the Strait of Hormuz gradually reopening, Gulf oil producers face a new test: how fast they can clear shipping bottlenecks and turn stockpiled crude into exports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 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
Some countries airlift or airdrop humanitarian relief supplies, but are also concerned about stockpiling for themselves.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
“We are also seeing resource nationalism and de-globalization. Copper is one of the most visible examples of this strategic stockpiling theme, but it applies to all critical minerals,” Wolf told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 13, 2026
A parallel framework between the U.S. and Japan added pricing measures and financing for projects, offtake, stockpiling and a rapid-response mechanism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Briefings have suggested this could include stockpiling tinned food and bottled water in the event of extreme weather and cyber attacks.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 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.
