Pile — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

noun verb /ˈpī(-ə)l/

Meaning & Definition of Pile

Pile (noun)

  1. a long slender column usually of timber, steel, or reinforced concrete driven into the ground to carry a vertical load
  2. a wedge-shaped heraldic charge usually placed vertically with the broad end up
  3. a target-shooting arrowhead without cutting edges
  4. a quantity of things or people heaped together
  5. a heap of wood for burning a corpse or a sacrifice
  6. any great number or quantity, lot
  7. a coat or surface of usually short close fine furry hairs
  8. a velvety surface produced by an extra set of filling yarns that form raised loops which are cut and sheared
  9. a single hemorrhoid
  10. hemorrhoids

Pile (verb)

  1. to drive piles into
  2. to lay or place in a pile, stack
  3. to heap in abundance, load
  4. to collect little by little into a mass —usually used with up

Pile (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. a quantity of things thrown or stacked on one another

    "a large pile of newspapers that needed to be disposed of"

    similar: cock, heap, hill, mound, mountain, stack
    related: bank, bar, drift, embankment, bed, layer, mow, pyramid, rick, barrow, cairn, pyre, accumulation, aggregate, array, assemblage, collection, conglomeration, gathering, grouping, hoard, huddle, jumble, knot, pileup

  2. a considerable amount

    "a job that paid piles of money"

    similar: abundance, barrel, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, lashings (chiefly British), loads, lot, mass, mess, mountain, much, multiplicity, myriad, oodles, pack, passel, peck, plateful, plenitude, plentitude, plenty, pot, potful, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, scads, sheaf, shipload, sight, slew, spate, stack, store, ton, truckload, volume, wad, wealth, yard, all kinds (of), quite a bit
    related: epidemic, plague, rash, bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, plethora, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus, deluge, flood, overflow, army, bevy, cram, crowd, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mob, multitude, press, score, sea, swarm, throng, gazillion, jillion, kazillion, million, thousands, trillion, zillion
    opposite: ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen, speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste, touch, trace
    near: atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit, smatter, smattering, dash, drop, morsel, shot, piece, portion, section, absence, dearth, famine, lack, paucity, poverty, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want, deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, meagerness, scantiness, scantness, skimpiness

  3. a very large amount of money

    "she made a pile in the stock market just before it headed south"

    similar: big bucks, bomb (British), boodle, bundle, earth, fortune, king's ransom, megabucks, mint, packet (chiefly British), wad
    related: heap, pot, bonanza, mine, treasure trove, assets, capital, means, property, riches, wealth, wherewithal, bread (slang), cash, chips, currency, dough, gold, jack (slang), legal tender, lucre, pelf, tender, wampum
    opposite: mite, peanuts, pittance, song
    near: petty cash, pin money, pocket money, spending money

  4. a soft airy substance or covering

    "the lush pile of the carpeting"

    similar: down, floss, fluff, fur, fuzz, lint, nap
    related: batting

  5. the hairy covering of a mammal especially when fine, soft, and thick

    "a dog with such a dense pile that he never minded the cold"

    similar: coat, fleece, fur, hair, jacket, pelage, wool
    related: undercoat, underfur, hide, leather, pelt, skin

Pile (verb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to lay or throw on top of one another

    "piled all the clothes on the chair before putting them away"

    similar: heap, mound, stack
    related: bank, layer, pyramid, accumulate, amass, assemble, collect, concentrate, garner, gather, group, mass, bunch, clump, lump

  2. to gather into a closely packed group

    "the kids piled into the car"

    similar: bunch, cluster, crowd, huddle, press
    related: assemble, collect, concenter, concentrate, conglomerate, congregate, convene, converge, flock, forgather, herd, swarm, throng, encircle, mob, surround, embrace, hug
    near: break up, disband, disperse, split (up)

Related Entry: Pile (up) (verb)

Pile (up) is a different word from Pile. The synonyms below are for pile (up), not for pile.

  1. to gradually form into a layer, pile, or mass

    "snow piling up in the driveway at a rapid pace"

    similar: accrete, accumulate, amass, build up, collect, concentrate, conglomerate, gather, mass, stack (up)
    related: agglutinate, clump, lump, bank, drift, ridge
    near: disperse, dissipate, scatter

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Pile

The most common words with a similar meaning to Pile:

Chiefly British: lashings, packet
British: bomb
cock, heap, hill, mound, mountain, stack, abundance, barrel, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, hundred, loads, lot, mass, mess, much, multiplicity, myriad, oodles, pack, passel, peck, plateful, plenitude, plentitude, plenty, pot, potful, profusion

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Pile

Words with the opposite meaning of Pile:

ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen, speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste

Related Words for Pile

bank, bar, drift, embankment, bed, layer, mow, pyramid, rick, barrow, cairn, pyre, accumulation, aggregate, array, assemblage, collection, conglomeration, gathering, grouping, hoard, jumble, knot, pileup, epidemic, plague, rash, bonanza, embarrassment, excess

Near Antonyms of Pile

atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit, smatter, smattering, dash, drop, morsel, shot, piece, portion, section

Word Forms of Pile

Inflections: piles, piled, piling

Derived words: pileless (adjective)

Origin & Etymology of Pile

Middle English, dart, quill, pole driven into the ground, from Old English pīl, from Latin pilum javelin

First known use: 12th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Pile

Words & Phrases Containing Pile

pile driver, pile in, pile on, pile out

Frequently Asked Questions about Pile

What does "Pile" mean?

"Pile" means a long slender column usually of timber, steel, or reinforced concrete driven into the ground to carry a vertical load. As an a noun and a verb, it is defined as: a long slender column usually of timber, steel, or reinforced concrete driven into the ground to carry a vertical load. It has 7 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Pile"?

Other words for "Pile" include cock, heap, hill, mound, mountain, stack, abundance and barrel. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Pile" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Pile"?

There are 199 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Pile". Common alternatives include cock, heap, hill, mound, mountain, stack, abundance, barrel, basketful and boatload.

What is the opposite of "Pile"?

Antonyms of "Pile" include ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful and hint. Near antonyms include atom, crumb, dot and fleck.

How do you use "Pile" in a sentence?

Examples of "Pile" in a sentence: "a large pile of newspapers that needed to be disposed of"; "a job that paid piles of money"; "she made a pile in the stock market just before it headed south".

Is "Pile" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Pile" can be used as a noun and a verb, depending on the context.

Is "Pile" useful for IELTS, TOEFL, and other English exams?

As a B2-level word, "Pile" is typical of Cambridge B2 First (FCE), IELTS band 5.5–6.5, TOEFL iBT 72–94, PTE Academic 59–75, TOEIC Listening & Reading 785+.

How do you pronounce "Pile"?

"Pile" is pronounced /ˈpī(-ə)l/.