noun

pile

pyl

noun

A number of things heaped or stacked on top of each other.

"Dirty laundry formed a pile at the foot of the bed."

"He sorted the mail into three piles: bills, junk, and everything else."

Informally, a large amount, especially of money.

"She made a pile selling her old comic collection online."

A long beam or post driven deep into the ground to support a structure such as a building or pier.

"Workers drove concrete piles into the riverbed before laying the bridge foundations."

verb

To heap things up, or to move as a group in a disorganised way.

"They piled their coats on the spare chair."

"The whole family piled into the car for the trip."

How to Use Pile

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA heap of things, a large amount, a support beam driven into the ground, or (as a verb) to stack or crowd something up.

Common mistake

"Piles" as a plural noun is also informal British English for haemorrhoids — a completely different, unrelated sense.

Common pairings

a pile of laundry pile up driven piles a pile of money

Word Forms

piled past tense, piled past tense, piled past tense, piles plural, piles plural, piles plural, piles plural, piles plural, Piles plural, piles singular, piles singular, piles singular

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

Dirty laundry formed a _____ at the foot of the bed.

Etymology

From Old French pile, from Latin pīla, "pillar" or "pier" — the heaped-up and driven-post senses both trace back to this idea of a solid mass.

Synonyms

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pile up

Related Words

amass heap

Rhymes for pile

file mile tile wile vile rile Nile bile Chile smile while exile

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