stack up

verb

stacked up; stacking up; stacks up

intransitive verb

1

: to add up : total

2

: measure up, compare

—usually used with against

Synonyms

• 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

For context, that stacks up to players such as Rasmus Dahlin and Luke Hughes. —Shayna Goldman, New York Times, 10 July 2025

Lutz from a percentage standpoint stacks up well from 50-plus with Elam (60.6%), Prater (77.7%) and McManus (55.5%) though each of those guys obviously had many more years kicking for Denver than Lutz. —Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 8 July 2025

However, something in Julia’s telling doesn’t stack up, either. —Tom Smyth, Vulture, 3 July 2025

Read more about Bruner here. UK basketball: How does Mark Pope's debut stack up versus others? —Ray Padilla, The Courier-Journal, 2 July 2025

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