pile

1 of 6

noun (1)

ˈpī(-ə)l 

plural piles

1

: a long slender column usually of timber, steel, or reinforced concrete driven into the ground to carry a vertical load

… thus Ellet reported that the riverbed was … firm enough to drive piles into for the foundations of piers.

—Henry Petroski

2

: a wedge-shaped heraldic charge usually placed vertically with the broad end up

3

a

: a target-shooting arrowhead without cutting edges

b

[Latin pilum] : an ancient Roman foot soldier's heavy javelin

pile

2 of 6

verb (1)

piled; piling

transitive verb

: to drive piles into

pile

3 of 6

verb (2)

piled; piling

transitive verb

1

: to lay or place in a pile : stack

2

a

: to heap in abundance : load

piled potatoes on his plate

b

: to collect little by little into a mass

—usually used with up

intransitive verb

1

: to form a pile or accumulation

—usually used with up

2

: to move or press forward in or as if in a mass : crowd

piled into a car

pile

4 of 6

noun (2)

plural piles

1

a(1)

: a quantity of things or people heaped together

a pile of leaves

… TV cameras captured him in a pile of his celebrating teammates.

—Benjamin Hoffman

(2)

: a heap of wood for burning a corpse or a sacrifice

b

: any great number or quantity : lot

made a pile of money

2

: a large building or group of buildings

3

: a great amount of money : fortune

She made a pile in the stock market.

4

: reactor sense 3b

pile

5 of 6

noun (3)

1

: a coat or surface of usually short close fine furry hairs

2

: a velvety surface produced by an extra set of filling yarns that form raised loops which are cut and sheared

pileless

ˈpī(-ə)l-ləs 

adjective

pile

6 of 6

noun (4)

1

: a single hemorrhoid

2

piles plural : hemorrhoids

Synonyms

Verb (2)

• heap
• mound
• stack

Noun (2)

• cock
• heap
• hill
• mound
• mountain
• stack

Noun (3)

• down
• floss
• fluff
• fur
• fuzz
• lint
• nap

Examples of pile in a Sentence

Verb (2)

piled all the clothes on the chair before putting them away

the kids piled into the car

Noun (2)

a large pile of newspapers that needed to be disposed of

a job that paid piles of money

she made a pile in the stock market just before it headed south

Noun (3)

the lush pile of the carpeting

a dog with such a dense pile that he never minded the cold

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Videos posted by several rescue agencies on Wednesday show entire streets flooded, people stuck on rooftops and cars piled up and flipped over. —CNN, 30 Oct. 2024

Cars were piled up and the streets were filled with clumps of waterlogged branches. —Joseph Wilson and Teresa Medrano, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2024

Another shows a pair of feet below a desk that is piled with gadgets and wires. —Cal Newport, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2024

The wobbling of another ship, at the weight of over a thousand passengers and hordes of packages, stacked up to the awnings, stuffed above the lifeboats, piled even onto the anchor deck, preventing its use. —Zining Mok, Longreads, 22 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, dart, quill, pole driven into the ground, from Old English pīl, from Latin pilum javelin

Verb (2)

Middle English, from pile entry 4

Noun (2)

Middle English pier of a bridge, stack, heap, from Middle French pille pier of a bridge, from Latin pila pillar

Noun (3)

Middle English, in plural piles "hair, plumage," borrowed from Anglo-French peil, pil "hair, coat of animal hair, cloth with thick nap" (continental Old French peil, poil "hair"), going back to Latin pilus "hair," of obscure origin

Note: Anglo-French pil for peil, apparently yielding long i in Middle English, is exceptional. The Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, proposes that the word is "partly" borrowed directly from Latin. Middle English Dictionary suggests borrowing from Middle Dutch pijl.

Noun (4)

Middle English pilez, plural, from Medieval Latin pili, perhaps from Latin pila ball

First Known Use

Noun (1)

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Noun (3)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (4)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing pile

• atomic pile
• at the bottom of the pile
• at the top of the pile
• compost pile
• dog pile
• pile drive
• pile driver
• pile in
• pile on
• pile out
• pile (something) on

Kids Definition

pile

1 of 6 noun

ˈpī(ə)l 

: a long slender post usually of timber, steel, or concrete driven into the ground to support a load

pile

2 of 6 verb

piled; piling

: to drive piles into

pile

3 of 6 noun

1

a

: a quantity of things heaped together

b

: a heap of wood for burning a corpse or a sacrifice

2

: a great amount

3

: reactor sense 2

pile

4 of 6 verb

piled; piling

1

: to lay or place something in a pile : stack

2

: to heap in abundance : load

3

: to move or push forward hastily or in a disorganized way : crowd

piled into the car

pile

5 of 6 noun

1

: a coat or surface of usually short close fine furry hairs

2

: raised loops on the surface of a fabric which may be cut or uncut and which produce a velvety or fuzzy texture

piled adjective

pile

6 of 6 noun

1

: hemorrhoid sense 1

2

plural : hemorrhoid sense 2

Etymology

Noun

Old English pīl "dart, stake," from Latin pilum "spear, javelin"

Noun

Middle English pile "pier of a bridge, heap, stack," from early French pille "pier of a bridge," from Latin pila "pillar"

Noun

Middle English pile "furry surface," from early French peil, pil "hair, coat with thick nap," from Latin pilus "hair" — related to caterpillar see Word History at caterpillar

Noun

Middle English pile "hemorrhoid," perhaps derived from Latin pila "ball"

Medical Definition

pile

noun

ˈpī(ə)l 

1

: a single hemorrhoid

2

piles plural : hemorrhoids

also : the condition of one affected with hemorrhoids