piling Definition

pile¹
noun

1. A number of things lying on top of each other; a quantity of something in a heap or mound.
2. colloq
A large quantity.
Thesaurus: mass, quantity, collection, accumulation, heap, stack.
Form: a pile
Form: piles
3. informal
A fortune.
Example: made a pile on the horses
Thesaurus: wealth, fortune, money, mint, hoard, pot.
4. A massive or imposing building.
5. A pyre. Also called funeral pile.
6. A nuclear reactor, originally the graphite blocks forming the moderator for the reactor. Also called atomic pile.
7. elec.
A vertical series of plates of two different metals arranged alternately to produce an electric current.

verb

tr & intr
piled, piling
1. To accumulate into a pile. See also pile-up.

Thesaurus: hoard, store, amass, gather, accumulate, collect, load up, heap, stack, bunch, pack.
Form: pile up (usually)
Form: pile something up

Idiom: pile it on

colloq
To exaggerate.

Etymology: 15c: from Latin pila a stone pier.

Phrasal Verb: pile in or into something

To move in a crowd or confused bunch into it.
Example: piled into the bus

Phrasal Verb: pile off or out of something

To move a crowd or confused bunch off or out of it.