pileup
noun
pile·up
ˈpī(-ə)l-ˌəp 
1
: a collision involving usually several motor vehicles
2
a
: a jammed tangled mass or pile (as of motor vehicles or people) resulting from collision or accumulation
b
Synonyms
Examples of pileup in a Sentence
A five-car pileup slowed traffic.
a pileup of e-mail messages that needed to be dealt with
Recent Examples on the Web
The pileup was reported shortly after 7:30 a.m., according to KGET.
—
Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 7 Jan. 2024
The first, in late October, caused a 158-vehicle pileup that killed seven people and injured dozens more.
—Nidhi Sharma, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2023
Ten people died in a 45-vehicle pileup on a foggy day.
—Alex Groth, Journal Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2024
Katherine Geisel, 32, of Brooklyn, transitioned to a mostly vintage and secondhand wardrobe a few years ago, citing a pileup of fast fashion in her closet.
—Stephanie Cain, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2024
Footage shared on social media showed a variety of cars caught in the pileup, with one angled high into the air, on a road with visible signs of melting ice.
—Larissa Gao, NBC News, 23 Feb. 2024
The founder, Johanan Dujon, noticed the sargassum pileups at his home on St. Lucia beaches and the eastern Caribbean in 2014 hurting the tourism economy.
—Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 3 Jan. 2024
Other drivers are leaving their bikes in Ho Chi Minh City’s police impound lots, and the pileup is creating administrative headaches.
—Chau Doan, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024
These chaotic pileups have happened many times in Earth’s history, including 350 million to 400 million years ago in a process that created the Appalachian Mountains, but modern examples are very few and far between.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 5 Feb. 2024
Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 7 Jan. 2024
The first, in late October, caused a 158-vehicle pileup that killed seven people and injured dozens more.
—Nidhi Sharma, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2023
Ten people died in a 45-vehicle pileup on a foggy day.
—Alex Groth, Journal Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2024
Katherine Geisel, 32, of Brooklyn, transitioned to a mostly vintage and secondhand wardrobe a few years ago, citing a pileup of fast fashion in her closet.
—Stephanie Cain, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2024
Footage shared on social media showed a variety of cars caught in the pileup, with one angled high into the air, on a road with visible signs of melting ice.
—Larissa Gao, NBC News, 23 Feb. 2024
The founder, Johanan Dujon, noticed the sargassum pileups at his home on St. Lucia beaches and the eastern Caribbean in 2014 hurting the tourism economy.
—Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 3 Jan. 2024
Other drivers are leaving their bikes in Ho Chi Minh City’s police impound lots, and the pileup is creating administrative headaches.
—Chau Doan, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024
These chaotic pileups have happened many times in Earth’s history, including 350 million to 400 million years ago in a process that created the Appalachian Mountains, but modern examples are very few and far between.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 5 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pileup.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near pileup
Cite this Entry
“Pileup.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pileup. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
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