pile
verb/paɪl/
/paɪl/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they pile | /paɪl/ /paɪl/ |
| he / she / it piles | /paɪlz/ /paɪlz/ |
| past simple piled | /paɪld/ /paɪld/ |
| past participle piled | /paɪld/ /paɪld/ |
| -ing form piling | /ˈpaɪlɪŋ/ /ˈpaɪlɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] to put things one on top of another; to form a pile
- pile something She piled the boxes one on top of the other.
- The clothes were piled high on the chair.
- pile something up Snow was piled up against the door.
- We piled the boxes up neatly.
- pile something + adv./prep. We piled sandbags against the doors.
- She was sitting at her desk with books piled around her.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- neatly
- haphazardly
- up
- …
- against
- on
- onto
- …
- piled high
- [transitive] to put something on/into something; to load something with something
- pile A with B The sofa was piled high with cushions.
- He piled his plate with as much food as he could.
- pile B on(to) A He piled as much food as he could onto his plate.
- pile B in(to) A She piled everything into her suitcase.
Extra Examples- She piled food onto our plates.
- a table piled high with magazines
- They piled stones on top of the mound.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- neatly
- haphazardly
- up
- …
- against
- on
- onto
- …
- piled high
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. (informal) (of a number of people) to go somewhere quickly without order or control
- The coach finally arrived and we all piled on.
- Children were piling out of the school bus.
- The bell rang and kids started piling into the classroom.
Word Originverb ,late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin pila ‘pillar, pier’.
Idioms
See pile in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarypile on the agony/gloom
- (especially British English, informal) to make an unpleasant situation worse
- Bosses piled on the agony with threats of more job losses.
Check pronunciation:
pile