Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

pile up

 - 7 dictionary results
Pileup
Pileup Online. Shop Target.com.
www.Target.com

pile

1  [pahyl] noun, verb, piled, pil⋅ing.
Use pile up in a Sentence
–noun
1. an assemblage of things laid or lying one upon the other: a pile of papers; a pile of bricks.
2. Informal. a large number, quantity, or amount of anything: a pile of work.
3. a heap of wood on which a dead body, a living person, or a sacrifice is burned; pyre.
4. a lofty or large building or group of buildings: the noble pile of Windsor Castle.
5. Informal. a large accumulation of money: They made a pile on Wall Street.
6. a bundle of pieces of iron ready to be welded and drawn out into bars; fagot.
7. reactor (def. 4).
8. Electricity. voltaic pile.
–verb (used with object)
9. to lay or dispose in a pile (often fol. by up): to pile up the fallen autumn leaves.
10. to accumulate or store (often fol. by up): to pile up money; squirrels piling up nuts against the winter.
11. to cover or load with a pile: He piled the wagon with hay.
–verb (used without object)
12. to accumulate, as money, debts, evidence, etc. (usually fol. by up).
13. Informal. to move as a group in a more or less confused, disorderly cluster: to pile off a train.
14. to gather, accumulate, or rise in a pile or piles (often fol. by up): The snow is piling up on the roofs.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < MF < L pīla pillar, mole of stone

Synonyms:
1. collection, heap, mass, accumulation, stack, mound, batch.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pile up
Pileup
Pileup Online. Shop Target.com.
www.Target.com
pile 1   (pīl)   
n.  

  1. A quantity of objects stacked or thrown together in a heap. See Synonyms at heap.

  2. Informal A large accumulation or quantity: a pile of trouble.

  3. Slang A large sum of money; a fortune: made their pile in the commodities market.

  4. A funeral pyre.

  5. A very large building or complex of buildings.

  6. A nuclear reactor.

  7. A voltaic pile.

v.   piled, pil·ing, piles

v.   tr.

    1. To place or lay in or as if in a pile or heap: piled books onto the table.

    2. To load (something) with a heap or pile: piled the table with books.

  2. To heap (something) in abundance: piled potato salad onto the plate.

v.   intr.

  1. To form a heap or pile.

  2. To move in, out, or forward in a disorderly mass or group: pile into a bus; pile out of a car.

Phrasal Verb(s):
pile up

  1. To accumulate.

  2. Informal To undergo a serious vehicular collision.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pīla, pillar.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
pile

  1. n.
    a large amount of money. : That old lady has a pile stashed in the bank.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

pile  (1)
"mass, heap," c.1410, "pillar, pier of a bridge," from L. pila "stone barrier." Sense development in L. from "pier, harbor wall of stones," to "something heaped up." In Eng., sense of "heap of things" is attested from 1440 (the verb in this sense is recorded from c.1358). The meaning "large building" (c.1378) is probably also derived from this word. Pile on "attack vigorously" is from 1894, Amer.Eng. Pile-up "multi-vehicle crash" first recorded 1929.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: pile
Pronunciation: 'pI(&)l
Function: noun
1 : a single hemorrhoid
2 piles pl : HEMORRHOIDS; also : the condition of one affected with hemorrhoids
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

pile (pīl)
n.
A hemorrhoid.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Idioms & Phrases

pile up

  1. Accumulate, as in The leaves piled up in the yard, or He piled up a huge fortune. In this idiom pile means "form a heap or mass of something." [Mid-1800s]

  2. Be involved in a crash, as in When the police arrived, at least four cars had piled up. [Late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see pile up on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way