Dictionary

pile-up en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Deverbal from pile up.

Meanings

1. (colloquial) A pile, a group of people or things which have piled up on one another, especially ▸ A pile of crashed vehicles due to a traffic accident.
   • Traffic was backed up for miles due to a twelve-car pile-up on the freeway earlier today.
   • Pinot was among those involved in the huge pile-up just as the race entered the final three kilometres. Grazes were visible under his torn clothing as he pedalled, with a face like thunder, to the finish line. 2020 August 29, Jeremy Whittle, “Alexander Kristoff takes Tour de France yellow jersey after day of crashe”, in The Guardian:
2. (colloquial) A pile, a group of people or things which have piled up on one another, especially ▸ A pile of tackling players.
3. An accumulation that occurs over time, especially one which is not welcome.
   • Evidently, the annealing in NO ambient results in a pile-up of nitrogen at the oxide/SiC interface and this results in a reduction of interface states near the conduction band edge of 4H-SiC [16,30,31]. 2002, Carl-Mikael Zetterling, Process Technology for Silicon Carbide Devices, →ISBN, page 107:
   • Cusp-like trapezoidal shaping functions have been shown to produce the best signal-to-noise ratio and still maintain short duration to avoid pile-up of events. 2004, G. Molnar, Handbook of Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis: With Neutron Beams, →ISBN:
   • Because family crises evolve and are resolved over a period of time, families seldom are dealing with a single stressor, but rather, our longitudinal data suggest they experience a pile-up of stressors and strains (i.e., demands), particularly in the aftermath of a major stressor, such as a death, a major role change for one member, or a natural disaster. 2014, Hamilton I Mc Cubbin, Marvin B Sussman, Social Stress and the Family, →ISBN:
   • If the supervisor deals with daily workload in an orderly way and does not put pressure on the employee about a pile-up of work, then the employee's perception of pressure will be reduced and the employee will not suffer from work pressure stress. 2001, Gavriel Salvendy, Handbook of Industrial Engineering: Technology and Operations Management, →ISBN:

Forms

Relateds

pile-on

Synonyms

dogpile

Translations (29)

fr accumulation (accumulation that occurs over time) · de Massenkarambolage (pile of crashed cars) · fi pelaajakasa (pile of tackling players) · fr amoncellement (accumulation that occurs over time) · fi kasauma (accumulation that occurs over time) · es choque múltiple (pile of crashed cars) · de Karambolage (pile of crashed cars) · fi ketjukolari (pile of crashed cars) · sk reťazová nehoda (pile of crashed cars) · ru столкнове́ние (pile of crashed cars) · hu tömegkarambol (pile of crashed cars) · ro carambolaj (pile of crashed cars) · el καραμπόλα (pile of crashed cars) · pl karambol (pile of tackling players) · bg натрупване (accumulation that occurs over time) · fr mêlée (pile of tackling players) · ro carambol (pile of crashed cars) · pl karambol (pile of crashed cars) · fi kasaantuminen (accumulation that occurs over time) · fi kasautuma (accumulation that occurs over time) · fi kasautuminen (accumulation that occurs over time) · tl karambola (pile of crashed cars) · fr carambolage (pile of crashed cars) · it tamponamento (pile of crashed cars) · cmn 連環車禍 /连环车祸 (pile of crashed cars) · ja 玉突き (pile of crashed cars) · pt engavetamento (pile of crashed cars) · bg верижна катастрофа (pile of crashed cars) · pl nagromadzenie (accumulation that occurs over time)