Word Frequency
pile1 (paɪl
)
Definitions
noun
- a collection of objects laid on top of one another or of other material stacked vertically; heap; mound
- (informal) a large amount of money (esp in the phrase make a pile)
- often plural (informal) a large amount ⇒
a pile of work
- a less common word for pyre
- a large building or group of buildings
- short for voltaic pile
- (physics) a structure of uranium and a moderator used for producing atomic energy; nuclear reactor
- (metallurgy) an arrangement of wrought-iron bars that are to be heated and worked into a single bar
- the point of an arrow
verb
- often foll by up to collect or be collected into or as if into a pile ⇒
snow piled up in the drive
- intr; foll by in, into, off, out, etc to move in a group, esp in a hurried or disorganized manner ⇒
to pile off the bus
-
See pile arms
-
See pile it on
See also
pile upWord Origin
C15: via Old French from Latin pīla stone pierSynonyms
View thesaurus entry = heap, collection, mountain, mass, stack, rick, mound, accumulation, stockpile, hoard, assortment, assemblage
= lot(s), mountain(s), load(s), oceans, wealth, great deal, stack(s), abundance, large quantity, oodles, shedload
pile2 (paɪl
)
Definitions
noun
- a long column of timber, concrete, or steel that is driven into the ground to provide a foundation for a vertical load (a bearing pile) or a group of such columns to resist a horizontal load from earth or water pressure (a sheet pile)
- (heraldry) an ordinary shaped like a wedge, usually displayed point-downwards
verb
- to drive (piles) into the ground
- to provide or support (a structure) with piles
Word Origin
Old English pīl, from Latin pīlumSynonyms
View thesaurus entryTranslations for 'pile'
- British English: pile A pile of things is a quantity of them lying on top of one another.The leaves had been swept into piles.paɪl NOUN
- Arabic: كَوْمَة
- Brazilian Portuguese: pilhaempilhamento
- Chinese: 堆
- Croatian: gomila
- Czech: hromada
- Danish: stak
- Dutch: hoop
- European Spanish: pilamontón
- Finnish: pino
- French: pile
- German: Haufen Haufen
- Greek: σωρός
- Italian: pila
- Japanese: 積み重ね
- Korean: 퇴적물
- Norwegian: stabel
- Polish: stos
- Portuguese: pilhaempilhamento
- Romanian: grămadă grămezi
- Russian: стопка
- Spanish: pilamontón
- Swedish: högansamling
- Thai: กอง
- Turkish: yığın
- Ukrainian: купа
- Vietnamese: đống
- British English: pile A pile of things is a mass of them that is high in the middle and has sloping sides. NOUN...a pile of sand.
- Brazilian Portuguese: pilha
- Chinese: 堆
- European Spanish: montón
- French: tas
- German: Haufen
- Italian: mucchio
- Japanese: 山積み
- Korean: 더미
- Portuguese: pilha
- Spanish: montón
- British English: pile If you pile things somewhere, you put them there so that they form a pile. VERBHe was piling clothes into the suitcase.
- Brazilian Portuguese: empilhar
- Chinese: 堆叠
- European Spanish: amontonar
- French: empiler
- German: aufhäufen
- Italian: ammucchiare
- Japanese: 山積みにする
- Korean: 쌓아 올리다
- Portuguese: empilhar
- Spanish: amontonar
Example Sentences Including 'pile'
As a model she stripped naked and lay on a pile of junk food just for an artistic visionmore on that later.Maxim (2004)
But the bottle was open and the pills were all heaped in a pile.LOST SUMMER (2002)
He sat frowning over a pile of reports, his curly brown hair already rumpled from his constant fiddling with it.THE LAST TEMPTATION (2002)
I stopped at a stall where a despondent teenager sat in front of a pile of green oranges.INSTRUMENTS OF DARKNESS (2002)
In the garage, from a huge pile of quicklime, they sifted many human parts.THE MEDICAL MYSTERIES E-OMNIBUS (2001)
One of the survivors spoke of being flung into the air after the crash and landing in a pile of hay.Globe and Mail (2003)
Our cerebral matter is vulnerable to what we pile on our plates.Glasgow Herald (2001)
SCOTTISH Radio Holdings (SRH) has sold the Irish Sunday newspaper it bought last year to add £7.4m to its cash pile.Glasgow Herald (2001)
The Jewish team had left their belongings in a pile beside the goalpost.Irish Times (2002)
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