stack up

verb

stacked up; stacking up; stacks up

intransitive verb

1

: to add up : total

2

: measure up, compare

—usually used with against

Synonyms

• approach
• approximate
• compare (with)
• measure up (to)

Examples of stack up in a Sentence

those newspapers have been stacking up in the basement since we moved here

Recent Examples on the Web

If Brunson continues playing at an all-world level, there isn’t a team not named the Boston Celtics the Knicks don’t quite stack up to this season. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 17 Mar. 2024

The story follows South Korean immigrants trying to make a new start as farmers in the American Midwest in the 1980s — a plan that puts husband Jacob (Steven Yeun) and wife Monica (Han Ye-ri) increasingly at odds with one another as the circumstances stack up against them. —Keith Phipps, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2024

So how do Kentucky basketball fans stack up to others in the country? —Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 6 Mar. 2024

As people stack up in the ER, wait times lengthen, contributing to overcrowding. —Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 7 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

stack up

verb

: measure up sense 2, compare

see how you stack up against the champion