pile
9 ENTRIES FOUND:
plural
piles
plural
piles
Britannica Dictionary definition of PILE
[count]
1
:
a group of things that are put one on top of another
— often + of
-
He put the magazines into a neat pile.
-
She raked the leaves into piles.
-
Take a card from the pile.
-
a pile of wood
-
a pile of clothes
2
informal
a
:
a very large amount of something
-
She had piles of work to do.
-
He makes a pile of money.
b
:
a large amount of money
-
He made his pile and then retired.
-
He made a pile in the stock market.
at the bottom of the pile
:
in a low or very unimportant position
-
He is at the bottom of the pile but should get a promotion soon.
-
The team finished the season at the bottom of the pile.
at the top of the pile
:
in a high or very important position
-
With this promotion, he will be at the top of the pile.
-
The team finished the season at the top of the pile.
2
pile
/ˈpajəl/
verb
piles;
piled;
piling
2
pile
/ˈpajəl/
verb
piles;
piled;
piling
Britannica Dictionary definition of PILE
1
[+ object]
:
to put (something) in a pile
— often + up
-
The campers piled [=stacked] wood for the fire.
-
The books were piled [=heaped] high on the table.
-
The teacher neatly piled up the students' papers.
2
[+ object]
:
to put a large amount of things on or in (something)
— + with
-
He piled his plate with potatoes.
-
The chair was piled with clothes. [=there was a pile of clothes on the chair]
3
[+ object]
:
to put (things or people) inside or on top of something in a quick and careless way
— + into or onto
-
I piled all my clothes into one suitcase.
-
We piled the kids into the van.
-
He piled potatoes onto his plate.
4
[no object]
of a group of people, animals, etc.
:
to enter or get on something (such as a building or vehicle) quickly
— + into or onto
-
The kids piled [=crowded] into the van.
-
People piled into the theater.
-
We piled onto the sofa.
pile in
[phrasal verb] of a group of people, animals, etc.
:
to move into a place or vehicle quickly
-
She parked the van and we all piled in.
pile on
[phrasal verb]
1
pile on (something)
:
to put a large amount of (something) on something or someone
-
He piled on the gravy.
-
The teacher punished the class by piling on more work. [=the teacher punished the class by giving them more work]
-
Her parents piled on the pressure to do well in school. [=her parents put a lot of pressure on her to do well in school]
◊ If you pile on the pounds, you gain a lot of weight.
2
US, informal
:
to join other people in criticizing something or someone in usually an unfair way
-
After the first few negative reviews, all the other critics started piling on.
pile out
[phrasal verb] of a group of people, animals, etc.
:
to move out of a place or a vehicle quickly
-
She parked the van, and the kids piled out.
-
The crowd piled out of the theater.
pile up
[phrasal verb]
:
to increase in amount or number to a total that is difficult to manage
—
see also pileup
-
Work piled up while she was on vacation.
-
The bills are piling up.
-
Traffic piled up because of the accident.
-
Snow piled up on the cars.
3
pile
/ˈpajəl/
noun
3
pile
/ˈpajəl/
noun
Britannica Dictionary definition of PILE
:
a soft surface of short threads on a rug, carpet, etc.
—
compare 3nap
[singular]
-
The rug has a thick pile.
[noncount]
-
It's a yellow rug with shaggy pile.
