piles
Britishplural noun
Etymology
Origin of piles
C15: from Latin pilae balls (referring to the appearance of external piles)
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.
It is also squeezing Gulf producers who still depend heavily on oil revenue and forcing difficult decisions to shut down oil fields as crude piles up with nowhere to go.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
He testified that he went about 200 to 300 feet up, to where piles of hose were being dropped.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026
Animals were often cooked and eaten, and their bones discarded in waste piles where exposure to heat and weather gradually breaks down genetic material.
From Science Daily • Mar. 7, 2026
Amid fears of a widespread public health crisis, some residents have taken to burning rubbish piles at night, filling the streets with acrid smoke.
From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026
I was assigned a seat at a bench near the front and given the job of measuring small glass rods and arranging them in piles according to lengths.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
