Meaning of pile in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Definitions
  3. Noun
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /paɪl/

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  1. Verb

    pile

    Definitions

    1. arrange in stacks

    Examples

    • « heap firewood around the fireplace »
    • « stack your books up on the shelves »

    Derived terms

  2. 2. press tightly together or cram

    Examples

    • « The crowd packed the auditorium »

    Derived terms

  3. 3. place or lay as if in a pile

    Examples

    • « The teacher piled work on the students until the parents protested »

    Derived terms

  4. Noun

    pile

    Etymology

    late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin pila‘pillar, pier’

    Definitions

    1. a collection of objects laid on top of each other

    Derived terms

  5. 2. (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent

    Examples

    • « a batch of letters »
    • « a deal of trouble »
    • « a lot of money »
    • « he made a mint on the stock market »
    • « it must have cost plenty »

    Derived terms

  6. 3. a large sum of money (especially as pay or profit)

    Examples

    • « she made a bundle selling real estate »
    • « they sank megabucks into their new house »
  7. 4. fine soft dense hair (as the fine short hair of cattle or deer or the wool of sheep or the undercoat of certain dogs)
  8. 5. battery consisting of voltaic cells arranged in series

    Examples

    • « the earliest electric battery devised by Volta »
  9. 6. a column of wood or steel or concrete that is driven into the ground to provide support for a structure
  10. 7. the yarn (as in a rug or velvet or corduroy) that stands up from the weave

    Examples

    • « for uniform color and texture tailors cut velvet with the pile running the same direction »
  11. 8. a nuclear reactor that uses controlled nuclear fission to generate energy

Famous quotes

  • « Stargate by far is the top of the pile when it comes to Sci-Fi. The quality is great. They have really good writers, production design, lighting, wardrobe. »
    Corin Nemec
  • « You have to spend a lot to make a lot. It's not like I'm sitting on top of a pile of money. »
    Katy Perry
  • « A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral. »
    Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  • « It was like there was a pile of kindling that was in the back of my imagination just waiting there. Once I lit it, it just flared up and I kept getting ideas and ideas. »
    Kevin J. Anderson
  • « My mother would give my brothers and me a pile of catalogues and let us pick what we wanted for Christmas. »
    Kary Mullis

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