stack up

verb

stacked up; stacking up; stacks up

intransitive verb

1

: to add up

Cars were beginning to stack up behind the bus.

2

: to be in a particular state or situation

Here's how things stack up today.

3

: measure up, compare

—usually used with against

How does he stack up against the other job candidates?

Synonyms of stack up

• compare (with)
• measure up (to)

Examples of stack up in a Sentence

those newspapers have been stacking up in the basement since we moved here

Recent Examples on the Web

Hudson has also stacked up more than 50 feature film roles, including 2023's genial sports comedy Champions, 2026's Toy Story 5, and the recent Ghostbusters films. —Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 8 June 2026

Here's how the different potato salads stacked up according to our editors. —Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 8 June 2026

Social media video and photos from this weekend show the pink sea creatures stacked up in the sand. —Neal Riley, CBS News, 8 June 2026

The chimp soon stacked up the boxes, climbed them and grabbed the treat. —Ari Daniel, NPR, 7 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for stack up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

stack up

verb

: measure up sense 2, compare

see how you stack up against the champion