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pile up

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pile

1[pahyl] noun, verb, piled, pil⋅ing.
–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


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
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.

  1. 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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