pile

pile¹ S2 [paıl] n

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1¦(arrangement of things)¦

2¦(large amount)¦

3 a pile of something

4 the bottom of the pile

5 the top of the pile

6¦(house)¦

7¦(material)¦

8¦(post)¦

9 make a/your pile

10 piles

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[Sense: 1-6, 9; Date: 1400-1500; : French; Origin: Latin pila; PILLAR]

[Sense: 7; Date: 1500-1600; : Latin; Origin: pilus 'hair']

[Sense: 8; Origin: Old English pil, from Latin pilum 'javelin']

[Sense: 10; Date: 1400-1500; : Latin; Origin: pila 'ball']

1.) ¦(ARRANGEMENT OF THINGS)¦

a group of several things of the same type that are put on top of each other

= ↑stack pile of

▪ His mother came in carrying a pile of ironing in her arms.

▪ Flora shuffled through a pile of magazines.

put sth in/into a pile

▪ She tidied up the books and put them in neat piles .

▪ He balanced the plate on the top of a pile of books.

2.) ¦(LARGE AMOUNT)¦

a large amount of something arranged in a shape that looks like a small hill

pile of

▪ piles of melting snow

▪ All that remained of the old house was a pile of rubble.

▪ Sophie stooped to throw another branch on the pile.

▪ He began to sweep the pieces of glass into a pile .

3.) a pile of sth also piles of sth

informal a lot of something

▪ We've had piles of letters from viewers.

▪ another pile of directives from the EU

4.) the bottom of the pile

BrE the weakest or least important position in a society or organization

▪ I soon discovered I was at the bottom of the pile in the office hierarchy.

▪ She always puts her own needs to the bottom of the pile.

5.) the top of the pile

BrE the best or highest position in a society or organization

▪ It's been 20 years since a British tennis player was at the top of the pile.

6.) ¦(HOUSE)¦

a very large old house

▪ They've just bought an 18th-century pile in Surrey.

7.) ¦(MATERIAL)¦ [U and C]

the soft surface of short threads on a ↑carpet or some types of cloth

thick/deep pile

▪ Her feet sank into the thick pile of the rug.

▪ a deep pile carpet

→↑nap¹ (2)

8.) ¦(POST)¦ technical

a heavy wooden, stone, or metal post, used to support something heavy

9.) make a/your pile informal

to make a lot of money

▪ He had made his pile in the wholesale business.

10.) piles [plural]

painfully swollen ↑blood vessels near a person's ↑anus

pile ²

pile² v [T]

1.) [always + adverb/preposition]

to fill a place or container or cover a surface with a large amount of things

pile sth into/onto etc sth

▪ He piled bread and milk into his basket.

▪ Melissa piled spaghetti onto her plate.

be piled with sth

▪ a chair piled with velvet cushions

▪ The room was piled high with boxes (=filled with a lot of boxes) .

2.) also pile up

to arrange things in a pile

▪ Ma stacked the cups and piled the plates.

pile sth on/onto sth

▪ She brushed her hair and piled it carefully on top of her head.

pile in phr v

if people pile in, they get into a vehicle very quickly

▪ Pierre came to pick them up, and they all piled in.

pile on [pile sth<=>on] phr v

1.) pile it on/pile on the drama

to talk about something in a way that makes it seem much worse than it really is

= ↑exaggerate

▪ I know I'm piling it on a bit, but there is a serious point to be made.

2.) pile on the pressure/agony

to show that you are much better than your opponent in a game

▪ England piled on the pressure from the start.

3.) pile on the pounds

to gain a lot of body weight

▪ She slimmed down a couple of years ago but has piled on the pounds again.

pile out phr v

if people pile out, they leave a place or get out of a vehicle quickly and in a disorganized way

▪ Edward parked by the river and we all piled out.

pile up phr v

1.) to increase in quantity or amount, in a way that is difficult to manage

▪ It wasn't long before the debts were piling up.

▪ The traffic starts piling up around this time.

▪ The work has a tendency to pile up if I'm not careful.

2.) pile sth<=>up

to arrange things in a pile

▪ tiny doughnuts piled up in a dish

→↑pile-up