as in to accumulate
to gradually form into a layer, pile, or mass
snow piling up in the driveway at a rapid pace
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in accumulation
a mass or quantity that has piled up or that has been gathered over a period of time
a pileup of e-mail messages that needed to be dealt with
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of pile (up)
Francesco Fedele, The Conversation, 12 Aug. 2025
Officials still at the agency told me that the pileup of new policies, combined with staff departures, has saddled them with heavier workloads.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 6 Aug. 2025
Customs facilities in Bangladesh have endured processing delays for exports and imports for two weeks, leading to concerns of more cargo pileup and backlogs at the country’s ports and inland container depots.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 14 July 2025
Behind the leaders, cars collided in pileups that would have made headlines at Daytona.
—William Liang, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for pile (up)
Noun
This catastrophic pileup would resemble a rogue wave, caused by their confinement.
—Francesco Fedele, The Conversation, 12 Aug. 2025
Officials still at the agency told me that the pileup of new policies, combined with staff departures, has saddled them with heavier workloads.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 6 Aug. 2025
Customs facilities in Bangladesh have endured processing delays for exports and imports for two weeks, leading to concerns of more cargo pileup and backlogs at the country’s ports and inland container depots.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 14 July 2025
Behind the leaders, cars collided in pileups that would have made headlines at Daytona.
—William Liang, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for pile (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pile (up)
Verb
-
Rainwater tends to accumulate at the road edges.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Rainwater tends to accumulate at the road edges.—
STAR-TELEGRAM WEATHER BOT,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
With less accumulation and more melting, glaciers are retreating at an accelerated pace.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
30 Aug. 2025
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The accumulation of technical choices that follows—encoded in algorithms, embedded in protocols, and scaled across millions of patients—will cement the particular biases of this moment in time into medicine’s future.—
Craig Spencer,
The Atlantic,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Holmes has an enviable collection of handbags, luxe and affordable, high and low.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
31 Aug. 2025
-
The automobile, mortar-and-pestle sign and other artifacts and specimens are considered collection items, which the museum will continue to care for.—
Jim Higgins,
jsonline.com,
30 Aug. 2025
Verb
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When the game resumed, the Falcons snapped the ball but neither team did anything, instead gathering on the field in a circle to pray after a few minutes of discussion.—
Jacob Lev,
CNN Money,
9 Aug. 2025
-
Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.—
Mark Cooper,
New York Times,
9 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Making its debut at IFA this year, the Roborock Curv 2 Pro can raise itself even higher than its predecessor to clear plushy carpets or lower itself down for a better clean on low-pile rugs.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Somehow, they got caught up in a donation pile.—
Joanna Allhands,
AZCentral.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In jumbles of old stones that, to me, are barely legible as the remains of buildings, Cocon López could see the entire timeline of old Aké and how later people interacted with and repurposed what came before.—
Lizzie Wade,
Smithsonian Magazine,
23 May 2025
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Baker also leads the orchestra, which sounds grand — although the sound in the arts center’s Pugh Theater often left musicians, lead singers and chorus all at the same level, with actors speaking over all of it at the same time to create a sonic jumble.—
Matthew J. Palm,
Orlando Sentinel,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Put the chicken thighs into a mixing bowl, add the other ingredients with a generous amount of salt and pepper and turn the chicken to coat well in the mixture, preferably using your hands.—
CAROLE KOTKIN,
Miami Herald,
29 Aug. 2025
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Top with the remaining spaghetti mixture.—
Robin Miller,
AZCentral.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pile (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pile%20%28up%29. Accessed 5 Sep. 2025.
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