From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishldoce_260_epilepile1 /paɪl/ ●●● S2 noun 1 
arrangement of things [countable] a group of several things of the same type that are put on top of each other SYN stackpile of His mother came in carrying a pile of ironing in her arms. Flora shuffled through a pile of magazines.put something in/into a pile She tidied up the books and put them in neat piles. He balanced the plate on the top of a pile of books.2 large amount [countable] a large amount of something arranged in a shape that looks like a small hillpile of piles of melting snow All that remained of the old house was a pile of rubble. Sophie stooped to throw another branch on the pile. He began to sweep the pieces of glass into a pile.3 → a pile of something4 → the bottom of the pile5 → the top of the pile6 house [countable] a very large old house They’ve just bought an 18th-century pile in Surrey.7 material [countable, uncountable]TIM the soft surface of short threads on a carpet or some types of cloththick/deep pile Her feet sank into the thick pile of the rug. a deep pile carpet → nap1(2)8 post [countable]TBCTEC technical a heavy wooden, stone, or metal post, used to support something heavy9 → make a/your pile10 → pilesTHESAURUSpile a group of things of the same type that are put on top of each othera huge pile of cardboard boxesstack a neat pile of things of the same typeThere were stacks of books on the floor.heap a large messy pile of thingsAll his clothes were in a heap on the floor.mound a pile of something with a round shapea small mound of rice on the platemountain a very large pile of something with a round shapea mountain of dirty laundry waiting to be washed
arrangement of things [countable] a group of several things of the same type that are put on top of each other SYN stackpile of His mother came in carrying a pile of ironing in her arms. Flora shuffled through a pile of magazines.put something in/into a pile She tidied up the books and put them in neat piles. He balanced the plate on the top of a pile of books.2 large amount [countable] a large amount of something arranged in a shape that looks like a small hillpile of piles of melting snow All that remained of the old house was a pile of rubble. Sophie stooped to throw another branch on the pile. He began to sweep the pieces of glass into a pile.3 → a pile of something4 → the bottom of the pile5 → the top of the pile6 house [countable] a very large old house They’ve just bought an 18th-century pile in Surrey.7 material [countable, uncountable]TIM the soft surface of short threads on a carpet or some types of cloththick/deep pile Her feet sank into the thick pile of the rug. a deep pile carpet → nap1(2)8 post [countable]TBCTEC technical a heavy wooden, stone, or metal post, used to support something heavy9 → make a/your pile10 → pilesTHESAURUSpile a group of things of the same type that are put on top of each othera huge pile of cardboard boxesstack a neat pile of things of the same typeThere were stacks of books on the floor.heap a large messy pile of thingsAll his clothes were in a heap on the floor.mound a pile of something with a round shapea small mound of rice on the platemountain a very large pile of something with a round shapea mountain of dirty laundry waiting to be washed Examples from the Corpus
pile• Soon, all that is left is a pile of bones.• a pile of dirty dishes• Her office is a terrible mess - there are piles of papers all over the floor.• Clare was having too much fun playing in the leaf pile to come inside.• The books were arranged in neat piles on her desk.• Put those letters on the other pile.• And judging by the prodigious pile of diatribes posted in the last year, a lot of folks are taking advantage.• a thick red pile carpet• Helen noticed a red rug, piles of books on the floor, white eyelet cafe curtains on the windows.• Greg carried the pile of ironed shirts upstairs.• He found himself in enormous buildings, with a labyrinth of rooms, and he was lost in the pile.• The folded laundry was separated into three piles.• I loved to pick through trash piles and collect empty bottles, tin cans with Pretty labels, and discarded magazines.• Can you separate those out into two piles - A to L and M to Z, please?• Eventually it carried out a more temporary repair, costing £500 000, which entailed replacing 30 of the 113 wooden piles.pile of• Piles of cans and bottles littered the ground.• a pile of bookssweep ... into ... pile• We watched the gardeners sweeping them into piles and the children swept up the leaves too.thick/deep pile• The situation is improved by adding velvet curtains, acoustic tiles and a thick pile carpet.• Collected under her hands they made a thick pile.• A deep pile in your living room!• A deep pile Raking ashes into a pile would then be automatically reinforced.• He lay back on his thick pile of cushions and chuckled.• On this occasion the officials thrown from the window managed to survive, since they landed in deep piles of castle refuse.• Her feet sank into the thick pile of the carpet.• She saw feet sinking into the thick pile of the new rugs whose abstract patterns evoked the work of contemporary artists.pilepile2 ●○○ verb [transitive] 1 [always + adverb/preposition]PUT to fill a place or container or cover a surface with a large amount of thingspile something into/onto etc something He piled bread and milk into his basket. Melissa piled spaghetti onto her plate.be piled with something a chair piled with velvet cushions The room was piled high with boxes (=filled with a lot of boxes).2 (also pile up)PUT to arrange things in a pile Ma stacked the cups and piled the plates.pile something on/onto something She brushed her hair and piled it carefully on top of her head. → pile in → pile something ↔ on → pile out → pile up→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
pile• He walked in and saw her sitting on the floor, piling books into a carton.• Mattie piled her plate with food.• He piled his dirty laundry up just outside my door.• Dirty dishes were left piled in the sink.• The girls who pile into the exhibition centre are usually accompanied by a flock of female relatives.• His armour was piled not three yards away, arrayed ready to be donned at short notice.• He scooped out a hollow and lying down piled the leaves over him like a thick coverlet.• Has anyone else noticed that towels dry faster when you don't pile them in the middle of the floor?• Gifts were piled under the Christmas tree.• Storm clouds piling up against Black Hills to east.• Recently it has started to pile up quite quickly.• He piled up snow and covered the remains.• We called the police when we noticed her newspapers and mail were piling up.• This I corrected in a grocery store, piled with butter and big cheeses and shelves of pickles and bread.be piled with something• The shelf and the floor were piled with books, boxes and folders stuffed with papers.• The tray was piled with flour.• All the combination platters are piled with food.• The upper floor, reached by a vertical ladder, was piled with hay.• The top was piled with pulp magazines and such.• The sky is piled with sunlit June cumulus.• The floors are piled with traffic signs, plastic bollards, broken Scalextric track, toy trucks and tractors.• Her bed, bedside table, and the floor under her bed were piled with yellow pads and books.Origin pile1 1. (1400-1500) French Latin pila; → PILLAR2. (1500-1600) Latin pilus “hair”3. Old English pil, from Latin pilum “javelin”4. (1400-1500) Latin pila “ball” 