- [countable] a number of things that have been placed on top of each other
- pile of something a pile of clothes/paper
- I found it in a pile of documents on his desk.
- in/into a pile The hats were stacked in neat piles.
- I've sorted the books into three separate piles.
Extra Examples- He arranged the documents in neat piles.
- He was busy behind a pile of papers on his desk.
- I grabbed a shirt from the top of the pile.
- I leafed through the pile of documents until I found the one I wanted.
- I pulled my diary from beneath a pile of files.
- I put the letter in the envelope and placed it on the pile.
- I sorted the clothes into two piles.
- Just add that application to the pile.
- She closed the magazine and threw it back on the pile.
- The clothes were in a pile on the floor.
- The money lay amid a pile of unopened letters.
- She was sorting the books into piles.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- enormous
- great
- …
- place something in/into/on
- put something in/into/on
- dump
- …
- amid a/the pile
- behind a/the pile
- beneath a/the pile
- …
- be reduced to a pile of something
- the bottom of the pile
- the top of the pile
- …
Definitions on the go
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- [countable] a mass of something that is high in the middle and wider at the bottom than at the top synonym heap
- pile of something piles of dirty washing
- The house was reduced to a pile of rubble.
- He threw the remaining stones onto the pile.
Extra Examples- He was spreading a small pile of manure around the strawberry plants.
- The body was hidden under a pile of leaves.
- He dumped a pile of dirty clothes onto the floor.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- enormous
- great
- …
- place something in/into/on
- put something in/into/on
- dump
- …
- amid a/the pile
- behind a/the pile
- beneath a/the pile
- …
- be reduced to a pile of something
- the bottom of the pile
- the top of the pile
- …
- [countable, usually plural] pile of something (informal) a lot of something
- He made a pile of cash on the sale of his house.
- He walked out leaving a pile of debt behind him.
- I have got piles of work to do.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- enormous
- great
- …
- place something in/into/on
- put something in/into/on
- dump
- …
- amid a/the pile
- behind a/the pile
- beneath a/the pile
- …
- be reduced to a pile of something
- the bottom of the pile
- the top of the pile
- …
- [uncountable, singular] the short threads, pieces of wool, etc. that form the soft surface of carpets and some types of cloth such as velvet
- a deep-pile carpet
- Corduroy is the poor man’s velvet; its pile is made of cotton rather than silk or satin.
- [countable] a large wooden, metal or stone post that is fixed into the ground and used to support a building, bridge, etc.
- [countable] (formal or humorous) a large impressive building
- a Victorian pile built as a private hospital
- her family's ancestral pile
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 3, noun sense 6 late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin pila ‘pillar, pier’. noun sense 5 Old English pīl ‘dart, arrow’, also ‘pointed stake’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch pijl and German Pfeil, from Latin pilum ‘(heavy) javelin’. noun sense 4 Middle English (in the sense ‘downy feather’): from Latin pilus ‘hair’. The current sense dates from the mid 16th cent.
Idioms
See pile in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee pile in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English(at the) bottom/top of the pile
- in the least/most important position in a group of people or things
- It’s been 20 years since a British player was top of the pile.
- The government is doing little to help those at the bottom of the social pile.
make a/your pile
- (informal) to make a lot of money
- The family made its pile from oil.
- I bet they made an absolute pile out of the deal.
Check pronunciation:
pile