pile

PYL/paɪl/

Pluralpiles

Verbpiles, piling, piled

24 meanings of pile

Practice

1
nouncountable
Things gathered together in a heap or stack.
Like a stack of books, one on top of another.
She left a pile of clothes on the bedroom floor.
There was a huge pile of leaves in the backyard.
UsageSay a pile of clothes or a pile of leaves.
Similarheap, stack, mound, mass
2
verbintransitive
To put things on top of each other, or to collect into a heap.
Like sand slowly building into a little hill as the wind blows it.
Snow piled against the garden fence overnight.
Mail tends to pile by the front door when she travels.
UsageSay snow piles up, or mail piles up.
Similaraccumulate, collect, gather, heap
Note
3
add moreverbtransitive
To keep adding more to an already large number of things.
Like adding more and more weight to a bag that is already full.
Late fees pile more debt onto struggling families.
The scandal piled fresh pressure on the mayor.
UsageSay pile more work on someone.
Similarheap, load, add
4
fill highverbtransitive
To fill or cover something with a large amount of stuff.
Like loading a plate so full that the food almost falls off.
She piled her plate with mashed potatoes and gravy.
They pile the table with food at every family gathering.
Similarheap, load, shower
5
fabric surfacenouncountable or uncountable
The soft raised threads on the surface of cloth or carpet.
Like the soft, fuzzy surface of a towel.
This carpet has a thick, soft pile.
Velvet is known for its smooth, even pile.
UsageSay a carpet has a thick pile.
Similarnap
Note
6
nouncountable
A long, strong post set deep in the ground or seabed to support a building or other structure.
Like a tent stake hammered deep into the ground to hold something steady.
Workers drove a steel pile into the muddy riverbed.
Each pile holds up part of the heavy bridge.
UsageWorkers drive a pile into the ground.
Similarpost
Note
7
lots of moneynounslangcountable
A very large amount of money that someone has or makes.
Like a treasure chest full of coins.
She made a pile selling old comic books online.
He spent a whole pile on the new car.
UsageSay make a pile.
Similarmint, bundle
Note
8
sorted groupnouncolloquialcountable
A set of things being looked at, often so you can pick from them.
Like sorting cards into a 'keep' group and a 'throw away' group.
Her application landed in the 'yes' pile.
The editor sorted the poems into a keep pile and a reject pile.
UsageSay the yes pile or the no pile.
Similarstack, group

Less common meanings

9
swollen veinnouncountable
A swollen, inflamed vein in or around the anus. Usually plural: piles.
A pile can make sitting down quite painful.
Her doctor gave her a cream for her piles.
UsageSay have piles; doctors say hemorrhoids.
Similarhemorrhoid
10
traffic jamverbintransitive
To block the road by bunching vehicles together in a jam.
Like toy cars bunching up when the one in front suddenly stops.
Trucks piled up behind the stalled bus.
Traffic starts to pile up on the bridge at five.
UsageSay traffic piles up.
Similarjam, bunch
11
big buildingnouncountable
A very large building, or a group of buildings together.
Like a giant old mansion that towers over everything around it.
The old castle was a huge stone pile on the hill.
They lived in a grand pile near the river.
UsageSay a grand pile or an old stone pile.
Similarmansion, edifice
Note
12
fine furnouncountable or uncountable
Very fine or short hair, like the soft fur of some animals.
Like the soft, fuzzy fur close to a cat's skin.
The rabbit's coat has a soft, thick pile.
A beaver's fur has a dense pile underneath.
UsageSay a soft, thick pile.
Similarfur, down
13
strengthen (ground)verbtransitive
To strengthen ground or a structure by driving strong posts deep into it.
Like pushing tent stakes deep into soft sand so the tent holds firm.
Engineers piled the soft ground before building the bridge.
Workers must pile the riverbank to keep it from sliding.
14
nuclear reactornouncountable
An early type of machine for making nuclear energy.
Like an early, simple version of a modern power plant.
Scientists started up the first nuclear pile in 1942.
The old pile was later replaced by a modern reactor.
Similarreactor
15
nounhistoricalcountable
An early kind of battery made from a stack of two different metals with wet cloth between them.
Like stacking many small batteries on top of each other to make one big one.
The pile was built from many layers of copper and zinc.
Adding more units to the pile raised its voltage.
UsageSay a voltaic pile.
16
nounobsolete
A dart or arrow shot or thrown as a weapon.
17
nounobsolete
The back side of a coin, the side called tails.
Note
18
rankingsnoun
A list of names, or a league of teams or people.
Our team is back at the top of the league pile after ten wins in a row.
After four losses in a row, the club has dropped to the bottom of the pile.
UsageSay top of the pile or bottom of the pile.
Similartable, heap, standings
Note
19
nounarchaic
A heap of wood built for burning a dead body.
20
verbrare
To give cloth a soft, raised, fuzzy surface.
21
verbdated
To stand guns together in groups of three so they hold one another up.
22
noun
The sharp metal tip at the end of an arrow or spear.
23
noun
A wedge shape on a coat of arms, usually pointing down from the top.
24
noun
A bundle of iron pieces heated and worked together into bars.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of pile apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–4, 7–8, 10–11, 14, 17–18

It came from Latin "pīla," meaning a pillar or pier.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Pile derives from Latin pīla. en.wiktionary.org
Latin pīla means pillar or pier. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 6, 13, 16

It came from Latin "pīlum," meaning a heavy javelin.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Pile ultimately derives from Latin pīlum. en.wiktionary.org
Latin pīlum means a heavy javelin. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 9

It seems to come from Late Latin "pilus."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Pile, meaning a hemorrhoid, apparently comes from Late Latin pilus. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 5, 12

It came partly from Anglo-Norman "pil" and partly from Latin "pilus," meaning hair.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

The hair-related word came partly from Anglo-Norman pil and partly from Latin pilus. en.wiktionary.org
Latin pilus means hair. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 15

It came from French "pile," meaning battery, and in English is said like the word "pile."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

English pile in the battery sense came from French pile. en.wiktionary.org
French pile means battery. en.wiktionary.org
French pile is pronounced /pil/, approximately like English peel; English pile is pronounced /paɪl/. en.wiktionary.org