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stack up

 - 5 dictionary results

stack

  [stak] ,
Use stack up in a Sentence
–noun
1. a more or less orderly pile or heap: a precariously balanced stack of books; a neat stack of papers.
2. a large, usually conical, circular, or rectangular pile of hay, straw, or the like.
3. Often, stacks. a set of shelves for books or other materials ranged compactly one above the other, as in a library.
4. stacks, the area or part of a library in which the books and other holdings are stored or kept.
5. a number of chimneys or flues grouped together.
6. smokestack.
7. a vertical duct for conveying warm air from a leader to a register on an upper story of a building.
8. a vertical waste pipe or vent pipe serving a number of floors.
9. Informal. a great quantity or number.
10. Radio. an antenna consisting of a number of components connected in a substantially vertical series.
11. Computers. a linear list arranged so that the last item stored is the first item retrieved.
12. Military. a conical, free-standing group of three rifles placed on their butts and hooked together with stacking swivels.
13. Also called air stack, stackup. Aviation. a group of airplanes circling over an airport awaiting their turns to land.
14. an English measure for coal and wood, equal to 108 cubic feet (3 cu. m).
15. Geology. a column of rock isolated from a shore by the action of waves.
16. Games.
a. a given quantity of chips that can be bought at one time, as in poker or other gambling games.
b. the quantity of chips held by a player at a given point in a gambling game.
–verb (used with object)
17. to pile, arrange, or place in a stack: to stack hay; to stack rifles.
18. to cover or load with something in stacks or piles.
19. to arrange or select unfairly in order to force a desired result, esp. to load (a jury, committee, etc.) with members having a biased viewpoint: The lawyer charged that the jury had been stacked against his client.
20. to keep (a number of incoming airplanes) flying nearly circular patterns at various altitudes over an airport where crowded runways, a low ceiling, or other temporary conditions prevent immediate landings.
–verb (used without object)
21. to be arranged in or form a stack: These chairs stack easily.
—Verb phrase
22. stack up,
a. Aviation. to control the flight patterns of airplanes waiting to land at an airport so that each circles at a designated altitude.
b. Informal. to compare; measure up (often fol. by against): How does the movie stack up against the novel?
c. Informal. to appear plausible or in keeping with the known facts: Your story just doesn't stack up.
—Idioms
23. blow one's stack, Slang. to lose one's temper or become uncontrollably angry, esp. to display one's fury, as by shouting: When he came in and saw the mess he blew his stack.
24. stack the deck,
a. to arrange cards or a pack of cards so as to cheat: He stacked the deck and won every hand.
b. to manipulate events, information, etc., esp. unethically, in order to achieve an advantage or desired result.
Origin:
1250–1300; (n.) ME stak < ON stakkr haystack; (v.) ME stakken, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
stacker, noun
stackless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To stack up
stack   (stāk)   
n.  

  1. A large, usually conical pile of straw or fodder arranged for outdoor storage.

  2. An orderly pile, especially one arranged in layers. See Synonyms at heap.

  3. Computer Science A section of memory and its associated registers used for temporary storage of information in which the item most recently stored is the first to be retrieved.

  4. A group of three rifles supporting each other, butt downward and forming a cone.

    1. A chimney or flue.

    2. A group of chimneys arranged together.

  6. A vertical exhaust pipe, as on a ship or locomotive.

  7. An extensive arrangement of bookshelves. Often used in the plural.

  8. stacks The area of a library in which most of the books are shelved.

  9. A stackup.

  10. An English measure of coal or cut wood, equal to 108 cubic feet (3.06 cubic meters).

  11. Informal A large quantity: a stack of work to do.

v.   stacked, stack·ing, stacks

v.   tr.

  1. To arrange in a stack; pile.

  2. To load or cover with stacks or piles: stacked the dishwasher.

    1. Games To prearrange the order of (a deck of cards) so as to increase the chance of winning.

    2. To prearrange or fix unfairly so as to favor a particular outcome: tried to stack the jury.

  4. To direct (aircraft) to circle at different altitudes while waiting to land.

v.   intr.
To form a stack.
Phrasal Verb(s):
stack up Informal

  1. To measure up or equal: Their gift doesn't stack up against his.

  2. To make sense; add up: Her report just doesn't stack up.


[Middle English stac, from Old Norse stakkr.]
stack'a·ble adj., stack'er n.
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
Word Origin & History

stack 
c.1300, "pile, heap, or group of things," from O.N. stakkr "haystack" (cf. Dan. stak, Swed. stack "heap, stack"), from P.Gmc. *stakkoz, from PIE *stognos- (cf. O.C.S. stogu "heap," Rus. stog "haystack," Lith. stokas "pillar"), from base *steg- "pole, stick" (see stake (n.)). Meaning "set of shelves on which books are set out" is from 1879. Used of the chimneys of factories, locomotives, etc., since 1825. The verb is attested from c.1325, "to pile up grain;" the meaning "arrange unfairly" (in stack the deck) is first recorded 1825. Stack up "compare against" is 1903, from notion of piles of poker chips (1896). Stacked, of women's bodies, "well-built in a sexual sense" is from 1942.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Science Dictionary
stack   (stāk)  Pronunciation Key 
An isolated, columnar mass or island of rock along a coastal cliff. Stacks are formed by the erosion of cliffs through wave action and are larger than chimneys.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Idioms & Phrases

stack up

  1. Measure up, equal, as in Their gift doesn't stack up against mine. This usage alludes to piling up one's chips at poker, and comparing them to those of the other players. [Early 1900s]

  2. Make sense, seem plausible, as in Her explanation just doesn't stack up. Also see add up, def. 2.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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