Dictionary

pile up en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (transitive) To form a pile, stack, or heap.
   • If I close my eyes I can see Marie today as I saw her then. Round, rosy face, snub nose, dark hair piled up in a chignon. 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 2, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
   • The kids piled up their boots and coats by the back door.
   • And still the hours passed, and at last I knew by the glimmer of light in the tomb above that the sun had risen again, and a maddening thirst had hold of me. And then I thought of all the barrels piled up in the vault and of the liquor that they held; and stuck not because 'twas spirit, for I would scarce have paused to sate that thirst even with molten lead. [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:
   • In the Norwegian district of Tellemarken a cairn is piled up wherever anything fearful has happened, and every passer-by must throw another stone on it, or some evil will befall him. 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 9, page 14:
2. (idiomatic, intransitive) To collect or accumulate, as a backlog.
   • The locomotive was the now inevitable American 2-8-0, No. 2623. There she stood, effectively blocking the level crossing, simmering gently, massively inert. It was almost dark, and one's final sight was of her high, firelit cab, the enginemen nonchalantly leaning out, waiting for the right-away, while impatient road convoys piled up on both sides of the crossing. 1945 January and February, “Notes and News: American Locomotives in France”, in Railway Magazine, page 46:
   • The requests piled up while she was away.
   • There are the engines that develop ill-health and begin to lose time, or the wagons that develop hot boxes and have to be removed, initiating delays that steadily pile up—or at worst, the weather lays its hand on the whole District. 1962 August, G. Freeman Allen, “Traffic control on the Great Northern Line”, in Modern Railways, page 131/132:
3. (intransitive) To sustain a motor vehicle accident; to crash.
   • Nevertheless, if there were no urgent reason for it, I did not fancy driving anything, much less a large, heavily loaded truck, by night along roads which might reasonably be expected to produce a number of hazards. If I were to pile it up, and the odds were that I should, I would lose a lot more time in finding another and transferring the load than I would by spending the night here. 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 157:
   • Seven cars piled up in a concertina smash on the Pacific Highway this morning about four miles on the Brisbane side of Southport. 1953 July 13, The Northern Star, Lismore, page 4, column 3:

Forms

Antonyms

unstack · unpile

Coordinates

pile on

Deriveds

pile-up · pileup

Hypernyms

round up

Relateds

backlog · backup · back up

Synonyms

pile · accumulate · build up · rack up · heap · stack · heap up · head up · cumulate · mound · pile up · stack up · amass · agglomerate · upheap

Translations (51)

sk navŕšiť ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · es amontonar ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · vi vun ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · ro îngrămădi ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · pt empilhar ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · it impilarsi ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · ca amuntegar ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · grc σωρεύω ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · pl nagromadzać się ((intransitive) to accumulate) · sk nakopiť ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · ru накопи́ть ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · fr amonceler ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · es arrumar ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · ta கூடு ((intransitive) to accumulate) · es amontonarse ((intransitive) to accumulate) · fi kasata ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · sv stapla ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · ta அடுக்கு ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · es hacinar ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · ru нагроможда́ть ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · eo amasiĝi ((intransitive) to accumulate) · it impilare ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · de stapeln ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · nl stapelen ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · pl nawarstwić się ((intransitive) to accumulate) · qu qutuy ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · ru накопи́ться ((intransitive) to accumulate) · pl nagromadzić się ((intransitive) to accumulate) · pt amontoar-se ((intransitive) to accumulate) · pl usypać ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · ru нагромозди́ть ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · fr s'amonceler ((intransitive) to accumulate) · pl piętrzyć się ((intransitive) to accumulate) · sv uppstapla ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · fr empiler ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · pl nawarstwiać się ((intransitive) to accumulate) · ru нака́пливать ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · sv trava ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · pl usypywać ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · pl spiętrzyć się ((intransitive) to accumulate) · fi kasautua ((intransitive) to accumulate) · fi kasautua ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · sk kopiť sa ((intransitive) to accumulate) · eo amasigi ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · pl spiętrzać się ((intransitive) to accumulate) · am አከማቸ ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · sk nakopiť sa ((intransitive) to accumulate) · sk vŕšiť ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · ru нака́пливаться ((intransitive) to accumulate) · es apilar ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.) · pt amontoar ((''transitive'') to form a pile etc.)