plural piles
1
: a long slender column usually of timber, steel, or reinforced concrete driven into the ground to carry a vertical load
… thus Ellet reported that the riverbed was … firm enough to drive piles into for the foundations of piers.—Henry Petroski
2
: a wedge-shaped heraldic charge usually placed vertically with the broad end up
3
a
: a target-shooting arrowhead without cutting edges
b
[Latin pilum]
: an ancient Roman foot soldier's heavy javelin
piled; piling
1
: to lay or place in a pile : stack
2
a
: to heap in abundance : load
piled potatoes on his plate
b
: to collect little by little into a mass
—usually used with up
1
: to form a pile or accumulation
—usually used with up
2
: to move or press forward in or as if in a mass : crowd
piled into a car
plural piles
1
a(1)
: a quantity of things or people heaped together
a pile of leaves
… TV cameras captured him in a pile of his celebrating teammates.—Benjamin Hoffman
(2)
: a heap of wood for burning a corpse or a sacrifice
b
: any great number or quantity : lot
made a pile of money
2
: a large building or group of buildings
3
: a great amount of money : fortune
She made a pile in the stock market.
4
1
: a coat or surface of usually short close fine furry hairs
2
: a velvety surface produced by an extra set of filling yarns that form raised loops which are cut and sheared
1
: a single hemorrhoid
2
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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