What (who) is PILE - definition
WIKIMEDIA DISAMBIGUATION PAGE
Pile (disambiguation); The Pile (disambiguation); The pile; Piles (disambiguation); The Pile
pile
pile1
¦ noun
1. a heap of things laid or lying one on top of another.
informal a large amount: the growing pile of work.
2. a large imposing building: a Gothic pile.
3. a series of plates of dissimilar metals laid one on another alternately to produce an electric current.
¦ verb
1. place (things) one on top of the other.
(be piled with) be stacked or loaded with.
(pile up) form a pile or large quantity.
(pile something on) informal intensify or exaggerate something for effect.
2. (pile into/out of) get into or out of (a vehicle) in a disorganized manner.
(pile into) crash into.
Phrases
make a pile informal make a lot of money.
pile arms Military place a number of rifles with their butts on the ground and the muzzles together.
Origin
ME: from OFr., from L. pila 'pillar, pier'.
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pile2
¦ noun
1. a heavy stake or post driven into the ground to support the foundations of a superstructure.
2. Heraldry a triangular charge or ordinary formed by two lines meeting at an acute angle, usually pointing down from the top of the shield.
¦ verb strengthen or support with piles.
Derivatives
piling noun
Origin
OE pil 'dart, arrow', also 'stake', of Gmc origin.
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pile3
¦ noun the soft projecting surface of a carpet or a fabric such as velvet, consisting of many small threads.
Origin
ME: from L. pilus 'hair'.
Pile
A galvanic or voltaic battery. It is sometimes restricted to a number of
voltaic couples connected. It should be only applied to batteries with
superimposed plates and no containing vessel such as the Dry Pile, q.
v., or Volta's Pile, q. v.
pile
(piles, piling, piled)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A pile of things is a mass of them that is high in the middle and has sloping sides.
...a pile of sand...
The leaves had been swept into huge piles.
= heap, mound
N-COUNT: usu N of n
2.
A pile of things is a quantity of things that have been put neatly somewhere so that each thing is on top of the one below.
...a pile of boxes...
The clothes were folded in a neat pile.
N-COUNT: usu N of n
3.
If you pile things somewhere, you put them there so that they form a pile.
He was piling clothes into the suitcase...
A few newspapers and magazines were piled on a table.
VERB: V n adv/prep, V n adv/prep
4.
If something is piled with things, it is covered or filled with piles of things.
Tables were piled high with local produce.
VERB: usu passive, be V-ed with n
5.
If you talk about a pile of something or piles of something, you mean a large amount of it. (INFORMAL)
...a whole pile of disasters.
QUANT: QUANT of pl-n/n-uncount
6.
If a group of people pile into or out of a vehicle, they all get into it or out of it in a disorganized way.
They all piled into Jerrold's car...
A fleet of police cars suddenly arrived. Dozens of officers piled out.
VERB: V into/out of n, V in/out
7.
You can refer to a large impressive building as a pile, especially when it is the home of a rich important person.
...some stately pile in the country.
N-COUNT
8.
Piles are wooden, concrete, or metal posts which are pushed into the ground and on which buildings or bridges are built. Piles are often used in very wet areas so that the buildings do not flood.
...settlements of wooden houses, set on piles along the shore.
N-COUNT: usu pl
9.
Piles are painful swellings that can appear in the veins inside a person's anus.
N-PLURAL
10.
The pile of a carpet or of a fabric such as velvet is its soft surface. It consists of a lot of little threads standing on end.
...the carpet's thick pile.
N-SING
11.
Someone who is at the bottom of the pile is low down in society or low down in an organization. Someone who is at the top of the pile is high up in society or high up in an organization. (INFORMAL)
PHRASE: oft v-link PHR
Pronunciation examples for PILE
1. pile--
The Berkeley Bowl Cookbook _ Laura McLively _ Talks at Google
2. and atomic-pile builder,
ted-talks_374_JohnHodgman_2008-320k
3. on Manure Pile Buttress.
Yosemiteâs Most Iconic Climb _ Hans Florine _ Talks at Google
4. A pile of money is just a pile of money.
Hackerspaces Entrepreneurship _ Mitch Altman _ Talks at Google
5. or a pile of gold or a pile of blood.
The Blockchain and The New Architecture of Trust _ Kevin Werbach _ Talks at Google
Examples of use of PILE
1. "You‘re only moving one pile of dust to another pile somewhere else." ($1=A$1.13)
2. Datwal, 57, who is ironing pile after pile of clothing with a charcoal–powered iron.
3. Morgan, Lamont was born with a pile and then made a pile of his own.
4. King circled a pile of trash that turned out to be nothing but a pile of trash.
5. Related Articles Spending demands pile up_(...ECONOMY...)