# pile

Pronunciation: say "PYL" /paɪl/

## Noun

1. A mass of things heaped or stacked together in one place.
   - Simple: Things gathered together in a heap or stack.
   - _He stacked the firewood into a neat pile beside the shed._
   - _Dirty dishes formed a precarious pile in the sink._
5. The raised hairs, loops, or strands forming the surface of a fabric; the nap of a cloth.
   - Simple: The soft raised threads on the surface of cloth or carpet.
   - _The deep pile of the rug felt luxurious underfoot._
   - _Brushing velvet against the pile changes how it catches the light._
6. A long post of timber, steel, concrete, or another material sunk into the ground or seabed to support a structure.
   - Simple: A long, strong post set deep in the ground or seabed to support a building or other structure.
   - _Engineers drove a timber pile deep into the soft soil before laying the foundation._
   - _A single pile failed, and the pier began to lean._
7. A large amount of money. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A very large amount of money that someone has or makes.
   - _They made a pile flipping houses during the boom._
   - _After the deal closed, she walked away with a tidy pile._
9. A swollen, inflamed vein in or around the anus; a hemorrhoid. Usually plural, piles.
   - Simple: A swollen, inflamed vein in or around the anus. Usually plural: piles.
   - _Long hours of sitting at a desk can make piles much worse._
   - _Straining too hard on the toilet can cause a painful pile._
8. A group or list of related items being considered, especially during a selection process. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A set of things being looked at, often so you can pick from them.
   - _After the first review, his résumé moved to the rejection pile._
   - _The hiring manager sorted each candidate into one pile or another._
11. A large building, or a mass of buildings grouped together.
   - Simple: A very large building, or a group of buildings together.
   - _The duke's ancestral pile dominated the surrounding countryside._
   - _Developers tore down the crumbling Victorian pile to build apartments._
12. Hair, especially when very fine or short; the soft underfur of certain animals.
   - Simple: Very fine or short hair, like the soft fur of some animals.
   - _The fine pile of the otter's underfur traps a layer of air for warmth._
   - _Breeders prize the dense pile beneath the goat's outer coat._
14. An early form of nuclear reactor.
   - Simple: An early type of machine for making nuclear energy.
   - _The Chicago pile achieved the first controlled chain reaction in 1942._
   - _Operators controlled the pile by inserting cadmium rods into its core._
15. An early battery made of a stack of alternating discs of two different metals separated by acid- or brine-soaked cloth or paper; a voltaic pile.
   - Simple: An early kind of battery made from a stack of two different metals with wet cloth between them.
   - _The museum's voltaic pile, a battery of thirty zinc and silver pairs, still gives a small shock._
   - _The pile drew its current from many identical metal couples stacked one above another._
18. A ranking or league table, chiefly in the phrases top of the pile and bottom of the pile.
   - Simple: A list of names, or a league of teams or people.
   - _A late goal against their closest rivals kept the champions on top of the pile going into the holidays._
   - _Three straight defeats have left the newly promoted side at the bottom of the pile with just four points._

## Verb

2. To put things on top of one another in a heap, or (of things) to gather or build up into a heap.
   - Simple: To put things on top of each other, or to collect into a heap.
   - _Leaves pile in the gutters every fall._
   - _Paperwork piled on her desk until she could barely see the surface._
3. To add still more to something that is already large in number or amount.
   - Simple: To keep adding more to an already large number of things.
   - _Critics pile more blame on the coach after every loss._
   - _The merger piled enormous debt onto the company._
4. To cover or load something with heaps of things, often more than it can comfortably hold.
   - Simple: To fill or cover something with a large amount of stuff.
   - _The host piled our plates high with roast lamb and vegetables._
   - _Grandma likes to pile our plates with mashed potatoes until we beg her to stop._
10. Of vehicles, to create a hold-up by bunching together and blocking the way.
   - Simple: To block the road by bunching vehicles together in a jam.
   - _After the accident, cars piled up for two miles behind the closed lane._
   - _On holiday weekends, traffic can pile up at the toll booths for miles._
13. To drive supporting posts into the ground, or to fill or strengthen a structure with such posts.
   - Simple: To strengthen ground or a structure by driving strong posts deep into it.
   - _Crews piled the marshy site heavily before laying any concrete._
   - _They decided to pile the harbor wall to stop it from sinking further._

## Noun

16. A dart or arrow used as a missile weapon. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A dart or arrow shot or thrown as a weapon.
17. The reverse side of a coin; the tails side, opposite the head. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The back side of a coin, the side called tails.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A heap of wood on which a dead body is burned; a funeral pyre.
- (verb) To give fabric a raised, shaggy surface of upright fibers.
- (verb) To stand guns or muskets together in threes so that they support one another and remain upright.
- (noun) The pointed head fitted to the end of an arrow or spear.
- (noun) A wedge-shaped charge on a heraldic shield, usually placed vertically with its broad end at the top and its point downward.
- (noun) A bundle of wrought-iron pieces meant to be hammered or rolled together into bars or other shapes at welding heat.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 7–8, 10–11, 14, 17–18** — This word came through Middle English "pyle" and Old French "pile" from Latin "pīla," meaning "pillar" or "pier."
**Meanings 6, 13, 16** — This word came through Old English "pīl" and Proto-West Germanic "*pīl" from Latin "pīlum," meaning "heavy javelin." It is related to Dutch "pijl" and German "Pfeil."
**Meaning 9** — This word probably comes from Latin "pila" ("ball"), though it has also been traced to Late Latin "pilus."
**Meanings 5, 12** — Latin pilus ("hair") is the root. It reached Middle English pile partly directly and partly through Anglo-Norman pil, another form of peil or poil ("hair").
**Meaning 15** — The sense goes back to Alessandro Volta's first battery of 1800, the voltaic pile, a stack of alternating metal discs. French still calls an everyday battery a pile; in English the sense is now historical.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/pile (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).