pile driver
noun
plural pile drivers
1
a
: a machine for driving piles (see pile entry 1 sense 1) into the ground
b
: a person who operates a pile driver
2
usually piledriver
or pile-driver plural piledrivers or pile-drivers, British, informal
: a forceful hit or kick (as of a ball)
hit a pile-driver into the net from 20 yards out
3
usually piledriver
or less commonly pile-driver
: a wrestling move in which a wrestler seizes an opponent and drops to the floor driving the opponent headfirst into the mat
The turning point of the match took place when Garcia executed a picturesque piledriver on Casanova.—
Justin Barrasso
Justin Barrasso
piledrive
verb, transitive + intransitive
or pile drive
or less commonly pile-drive
pile-drived or pile-drove
ˈpī(-ə)l-ˌdrōv 
also pile drove or piledrived or piledrove or pile drived; pile-driven
ˈpī(-ə)l-ˌdri-vən
or pile driven also piledriven; pile-driving also pile driving or piledriving; piledrives also pile drives or pile-drives
also pile drove or piledrived or piledrove or pile drived; pile-driven
ˈpī(-ə)l-ˌdri-vən
or pile driven also piledriven; pile-driving also pile driving or piledriving; piledrives also pile drives or pile-drives
piledrive an opponent
Skinner started his career pile driving back in 1979 …
—Surrey (British Columbia) Now-Leader
Surrey (British Columbia) Now-Leader
(figurative)
pile-drived the competition
Examples of pile driver in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The match eventually came to an end when Owens tried to hit the package pile driver again, only for Rhodes to turn it into an Alabama Slam onto a ladder, breaking the ladder in the process.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 2 Feb. 2025
The sounds of construction — the slow beeps of a truck in reverse, a pile driver pounding the hard earth — filled the air.
—Megan Kimble, New York Times, 31 May 2024
Carpenters, ironworkers, laborers, divers, operators, pile drivers, millwrights — the list goes on.
—Kelvin Jordan, Baltimore Sun, 8 Apr. 2024
The universal nature of the pontoons permitted construction of an array of floating structures, including dredges, barges, floating cranes, workshops, storehouses and gas stations, tug boats, pile drivers and dry docks.
—Frank A. Blazich Jr., The Conversation, 20 May 2024
Union pile drivers, according to DMV officials with the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, already lead the way in minority numbers in the region with 65% of them Black and 85% overall minority.
—Kelvin Jordan, Baltimore Sun, 8 Apr. 2024
The inexorable advance of technological noise in the twentieth century—cars, airplanes, helicopters, pile drivers, lawnmowers, leaf blowers, home stereos, stadium sound systems—left the impression that the world was getting louder year by year.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
The song itself is booming, comparable to the clang of a chorus of pile drivers, according to the researchers who recorded it.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 17 Oct. 2023
Perforated pipes encircle the pile driver, blowing a wall of air bubbles that absorb and refract the noise, reducing it by as much as 15 dB.
—Joseph Polidoro, Scientific American, 23 Feb. 2021
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David Faris, Newsweek, 2 Feb. 2025
The sounds of construction — the slow beeps of a truck in reverse, a pile driver pounding the hard earth — filled the air.
—Megan Kimble, New York Times, 31 May 2024
Carpenters, ironworkers, laborers, divers, operators, pile drivers, millwrights — the list goes on.
—Kelvin Jordan, Baltimore Sun, 8 Apr. 2024
The universal nature of the pontoons permitted construction of an array of floating structures, including dredges, barges, floating cranes, workshops, storehouses and gas stations, tug boats, pile drivers and dry docks.
—Frank A. Blazich Jr., The Conversation, 20 May 2024
Union pile drivers, according to DMV officials with the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, already lead the way in minority numbers in the region with 65% of them Black and 85% overall minority.
—Kelvin Jordan, Baltimore Sun, 8 Apr. 2024
The inexorable advance of technological noise in the twentieth century—cars, airplanes, helicopters, pile drivers, lawnmowers, leaf blowers, home stereos, stadium sound systems—left the impression that the world was getting louder year by year.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
The song itself is booming, comparable to the clang of a chorus of pile drivers, according to the researchers who recorded it.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 17 Oct. 2023
Perforated pipes encircle the pile driver, blowing a wall of air bubbles that absorb and refract the noise, reducing it by as much as 15 dB.
—Joseph Polidoro, Scientific American, 23 Feb. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Pile driver.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pile%20driver. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.
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