pile
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pile¹
- /paɪl/
Rhymes with -aɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English pyle, from Old French pile, from Latin pīla (“pillar, pier”).
noun piles
- A mass of things heaped together; a heap. I climbed through, and, standing on a pile of stones, lifted and dragged Cleopatra after me.
- A group or list of related items up for consideration, especially in some kind of selection process. When we were looking for a new housemate, we put the nice woman on the "maybe" pile, and the annoying guy on the "no" pile.
- A mass formed in layers. a pile of shot
- A funeral pile; a pyre. Jove with a Nod, comply'd with her Deſire; / Around the Body flam'd the Funeral Fire; / The Pile decreas'd that lately ſeem'd ſo high, / And Sheets of Smoak roll'd upward to the Sky: [...]
-
A large amount of money.
He made a pile from that invention of his.
Similar: bundle, mint, small fortune
- A large building, or mass of buildings. The pile is of a gloomy and massive, rather than of an elegant, style of Gothic architecture; […]
- A bundle of pieces of wrought iron to be worked over into bars or other shapes by rolling or hammering at a welding heat; a fagot.
- A vertical series of alternate disks of two dissimilar metals (especially copper and zinc), laid up with disks of cloth or paper moistened with acid water between them, for producing a current of electricity; a voltaic pile, or galvanic pile. The word "pile" is used specifically to mean the column of superposed electrodes, such as that of Volta or Zamboni.
- A beam, pole, or pillar, driven completely into the ground, usually as one of a group that constitutes a foundation.
- An atomic pile; an early form of nuclear reactor.
- The reverse (or tails) of a coin.
- A list or league And the moment it thumped into the net, Celtic’s march back to the top of the SPL pile also seemed unstoppable.
verb piles · piling · piled
-
To lay or throw into a pile or heap; to heap up; to collect into a mass; to accumulate
They were piling up wood on the wheelbarrow.
Similar: heap
- To cover with heaps; or in great abundance; to fill or overfill; to load. We piled the camel with our loads.
- To add something to a great number. But as the second half wore on, Sunderland piled forward at every opportunity and their relentless pressure looked certain to be rewarded in the closing stages.
- (of vehicles) To create a hold-up.
- To place (guns, muskets, etc.) together in threes so that they can stand upright, supporting each other.
-
To form a pile or heap.
Junk piled on the floor as we searched the attic for the old photograph albums.
Similar: accumulate, pile up
Similar: pile up
pile²
- /paɪl/
Rhymes with -aɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English pile, from Old English pīl, from Proto-West Germanic *pīl, from Latin pīlum (“heavy javelin”). Cognate with Dutch pijl, German Pfeil. Doublet of pilum.
noun piles
- A dart; an arrow.
- The head of an arrow or spear.
- A large stake, or piece of pointed timber, steel etc., driven into the earth or sea-bed for the support of a building, a pier, or other superstructure, or to form a cofferdam, etc. All this time I worked very hard [...] and it is scarce credible what inexpressible labour everything was done with, especially the bringing piles out of the woods and driving them into the ground; for I made them much bigger than I needed to have done.
- One of the ordinaries or subordinaries having the form of a wedge, usually placed palewise, with the broadest end uppermost.
verb piles · piling · piled
- To drive piles into; to fill with piles; to strengthen with piles.
pile³
- /paɪl/
Rhymes with -aɪl
Where it comes from
Apparently from Late Latin pilus. Doublet of pilus.
noun piles
- A hemorrhoid.
pile⁴
- /paɪl/
Rhymes with -aɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English pile, partly from Anglo-Norman pil (a variant of peil, poil (“hair”)) and partly from its source, Latin pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pilus.
noun piles
- Hair, especially when very fine or short; the fine underfur of certain animals. (Formerly countable, now treated as a collective singular.)
- The raised hairs, loops or strands of a fabric; the nap of a cloth. Velvet soft, or plush with shaggy pile.
verb piles · piling · piled
- To give a pile to; to make shaggy.
pile⁵
- /paɪl/
Rhymes with -aɪl
Where it comes from
From French pile (“battery”), with the pronunciation adapted to the existing English word pile. Doublet of Etymology 1, which may have influenced the sense development by emphasizing the stack (“pile”) out of which early batteries were made.
noun piles
- A battery (simple device for converting chemical potential energy into usable electricity).
- A battery consisting of repeated units of alternating types of metal; voltaic pile.
Pile⁶
proper noun Piles
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: heap, throng, mass, lot, great deal, slew, deal, mickle, plenty, muckle, mint, mound, spile, pack, wad, mob
verb
Similar: pile up
Translations
Every language
noun mass of things heaped together; heap
| Español | montón, rimero, pila, cúmulo, hacina, tambache |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 무더기 mudeogi |
| 日本語 | 積み重ね tsumikasane, 山 yama |
| 中文 | 堆 duī |
| Português | pilha, monte (desordenado) |
| Français | monceau, tas, pile |
| Deutsch | Haufen, Stoß, Stapel, Halde |
| Italiano | mucchio, catasta, pila, ammasso, ingorgo |
| Ελληνικά | σωρός sorós |
| Română | grămadă |
| Русский | ку́ча kúča, гру́да grúda, сто́пка stópka |
| العربية | كَوْم kawm |
| עברית | עֲרֵמָה |
noun vertical series of alternate disks of two dissimilar metals, laid up with disks of cloth or paper moistened with acid water between them, for producing a curren
| Español | pila |
|---|---|
| Português | pilha |
| Français | pile |
| Italiano | pila, batteria |
| Русский | гальвани́ческий элеме́нт galʹvaníčeskij elemént |
noun architecture, civil engineering: beam, pole, or pillar, driven completely into the ground
| Русский | сва́я svája |
|---|
verb to lay or throw into a pile
| 한국어 | 쌓다 ssata |
|---|---|
| Português | fazer pilha, fazer monte desordenado, pôr em pilha, empilhar |
| Français | faire pile, amasser, empiler, ajouter |
| Deutsch | stapeln, aufstapeln, anhäufen, schichten |
| Italiano | ammucchiare, accatastare, impilare |
| Русский | нава́ливать naválivatʹ, навали́ть navalítʹ, зава́ливать zaválivatʹ, завали́ть zavalítʹ |
verb to overload
| Italiano | ammassare |
|---|---|
| Русский | перегружа́ть peregružátʹ, перегрузи́ть peregruzítʹ, нагружа́ть nagružátʹ, нагрузи́ть nagruzítʹ |
verb to add something to a great number
| Italiano | ammassare |
|---|
verb to create a hold-up
| Italiano | creare un ingorgo |
|---|
noun head of an arrow or spear
| Italiano | punta |
|---|---|
| Русский | наконе́чник nakonéčnik |
noun stake of pointed timber, steel etc., driven into the earth
| 한국어 | 말뚝 malttuk |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 桩 zhuāng |
| Français | pieu |
| Deutsch | Pfahl |
| Italiano | palo, paletto |
| Русский | сва́я svája |
verb to drive piles into
| 中文 | 打桩 dǎzhuāng |
|---|---|
| Italiano | accatastare, ammucchiare, ammassare |
Talk about this word "pile." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pile. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pile. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pile "pile." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pile.Cite this
@misc{pile_2026,
title = {pile},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pile},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
