pile /paɪl/noun 21verb 8forms 3phrases 4 noun21 •a high mass made of many things lying on each otherI climbed through, and, standing on a pile of stones, lifted and dragged Cleopatra after me. — 1889 •A mass formed in layers.a pile of shot •A funeral pile; a pyre.Jove with a Nod, comply'd with her Desire; / Around the Body flam'd the Funeral Fire; / The Pile decreas'd that lately seem'd so high, / And Sheets of Smoak roll'd upward to the Sky: [...] — 1717 •A bundle of pieces of wrought iron to be worked over into bars or other shapes by rolling or hammering at a welding heat; a fagot. •A beam, pole, or pillar, driven completely into the ground, usually as one of a group that constitutes a foundation. •A large stake, or piece of pointed timber, steel etc., driven into the earth or sea-bed for the support of a building, a pier, or other superstructure, or to form a cofferdam, etc. •(slang) A large amount of money.He made a pile from that invention of his. •Hair, especially when very fine or short; the fine underfur of certain animals. (Formerly countable, now treated as a collective singular.) •The raised hairs, loops or strands of a fabric; the nap of a cloth.Velvet soft, or plush with shaggy pile. — 1785 •(informal) A group or list of related items up for consideration, especially in some kind of selection process.When we were looking for a new housemate, we put the nice woman on the "maybe" pile, and the annoying guy on the "no" pile. •[usually plural] A hemorrhoid. •A list or leagueAnd the moment it thumped into the net, Celtic’s march back to the top of the SPL pile also seemed unstoppable. — 2011 •A large building, or mass of buildings.The pile is of a gloomy and massive, rather than of an elegant, style of Gothic architecture; […] — 1817 •An atomic pile; an early form of nuclear reactor. •A vertical series of alternate disks of two dissimilar metals (especially copper and zinc), laid up with disks of cloth or paper moistened with acid water between them, for producing a current of electricity; a voltaic pile, or galvanic pile.The word "pile" is used specifically to mean the column of superposed electrodes, such as that of Volta or Zamboni. — 1893 •(historical) A battery (simple device for converting chemical potential energy into usable electricity). •(historical) A battery consisting of repeated units of alternating types of metal; voltaic pile. •The head of an arrow or spear. •One of the ordinaries or subordinaries having the form of a wedge, usually placed palewise, with the broadest end uppermost. •(no longer used) The reverse (or tails) of a coin. •(no longer used) A dart; an arrow. verb8 •To lay or throw into a pile or heap; to heap up; to collect into a mass; to accumulateThey were piling up wood on the wheelbarrow. •To cover with heaps; or in great abundance; to fill or overfill; to load.We piled the camel with our loads. •To form a pile or heap.Junk piled on the floor as we searched the attic for the old photograph albums. •To add something to a great number.But as the second half wore on, Sunderland piled forward at every opportunity and their relentless pressure looked certain to be rewarded in the closing stages. — 2010 •(of vehicles) To create a hold-up. •To drive piles into; to fill with piles; to strengthen with piles. •To place (guns, muskets, etc.) together in threes so that they can stand upright, supporting each other. •To give a pile to; to make shaggy. formspiled · piling · piles Phrases with pile pile-upA pile of crashed vehicles due to a traffic accident. pile inTo enter or move into a location or a vehicle in large numbers. pile outTo leave or exit a location or a vehicle in large numbers. pile Pelion on OssaTo make a difficult situation even worse.
