pile 1
(pīl)n.
1. A quantity of objects stacked or thrown together in a heap. See Synonyms at heap.
2. Informal
a. A large accumulation or quantity: a pile of work to do.
b. A large amount of money: made a pile in the real estate boom.
3. A nuclear reactor.
4. A voltaic pile.
5. A very large building or complex of buildings.
6. A funeral pyre.
v. piled, pil·ing, piles
v.tr.
1.
a. To place or lay in a pile or heap: piled books onto the table.
b. To load (something) with a heap or pile: piled the table with books.
2. To add or increase to abundance or to a point of burdensomeness: piled homework on the students.
v.intr.
Phrasal Verbs: 1. To form a heap or pile.
2. To move in, out, or forward in a disorderly mass or group: pile into a bus; pile out of a car.
pile on
1. To leap onto an existing pile of people, especially football players.
2. To add or increase (something, such as criticism) abundantly or excessively.
pile up
1. To accumulate: Work is piling up.
2. Informal To undergo a serious vehicular collision.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pīla, pillar.]
pile 2
(pīl)n.
1. A heavy post of timber, concrete, or steel, driven into the earth as a foundation or support for a structure.
2. Heraldry A wedge-shaped charge pointing downward.
3. A Roman javelin.
tr.v. piled, pil·ing, piles
1. To drive piles into.
2. To support with piles.
[Middle English, from Old English pīl, shaft, stake, from Latin pīlum, spear, pestle.]
pile 3
(pīl)n.
1.
a. Cut or uncut loops of yarn forming the surface of certain fabrics, such as velvet, plush, and carpeting.
b. The surface so formed.
2. Soft fine hair, fur, or wool.
[From Middle English piles(attested only in plural) downy hair, downy plumage, partly from Anglo-Norman peil, pil, hair, coat (as of a horse), cloth with a thick nap, and partly from Latin pilus, hair (Anglo-Norman, from Latin).]
piled adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
w>pile on
vi (inf) → hineindrängen (→ -to in +acc)
vt sep (lit) → aufhäufen (→ -to auf +acc); she piled rice on(to) my plate → sie häufte Reis auf meinen Teller; he’s piling work on(to) his staff → er überhäuft seine Leute mit Arbeit; they are really piling on the pressure → sie setzen uns/euch etc ganz gehörig unter Druck; to pile on weight or the pounds → Gewicht nt → /Pfunde pl → ansetzen; to pile on the agony (inf) → dick auftragen (inf); to pile it on (inf) → dick auftragen (inf)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007