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
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Recent Examples of pile (up)
Ana Swanson, New York Times, 1 May 2025
This pileup of unsold inventory is reflected in the current mismatch between sellers and buyers, with the first outnumbering the latter by nearly 500,000, the real estate brokerage found.
—Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 June 2025
Photo: Courtesy of Dior Maria Grazia’s creations were striking yet pared back enough to accommodate a single statement necklace or a pileup of jewels, with perhaps a diamond rivière, a pearl sautoir, or brooch at the waist, or a slither of diamonds at the ankle.
—Vogue, 6 May 2025
The family of a North Texas woman killed in the 133-car pileup during the February 2021 ice storm has settled with the company that operates the toll lanes.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pile (up)
Noun
Americans saw pileups at the ports and shortages of some goods, all of which ultimately contributed to higher prices.
—Ana Swanson, New York Times, 1 May 2025
This pileup of unsold inventory is reflected in the current mismatch between sellers and buyers, with the first outnumbering the latter by nearly 500,000, the real estate brokerage found.
—Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 June 2025
Photo: Courtesy of Dior Maria Grazia’s creations were striking yet pared back enough to accommodate a single statement necklace or a pileup of jewels, with perhaps a diamond rivière, a pearl sautoir, or brooch at the waist, or a slither of diamonds at the ankle.
—Vogue, 6 May 2025
The family of a North Texas woman killed in the 133-car pileup during the February 2021 ice storm has settled with the company that operates the toll lanes.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pile (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pile (up)
Verb
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In France, Gauguin had accumulated a small band of acolytes devoted to his iconoclastic paintings saturated with color and symbolism.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
11 July 2025
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However, a caveat: Without citizen oversight and proactivity, the trash will accumulate, the trees will grow and the potholes will reappear.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
11 July 2025
Noun
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The annual Ten Thousand Commandments report has, since 1993, tracked the inexorable accumulation of federal regulation.—
Clyde Wayne Crews Jr,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
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The United States would be, to put it mildly, naïve to believe that the accumulation of intelligence and modern warfare knowledge by North Korea, China and Iran presents no threat to the United States.—
Laura Thornton,
Twin Cities,
27 June 2025
Noun
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In Georgia, for example, the Georgia State Afterschool Network used its long-standing relationships with community organizations to efficiently distribute grant funds and provide technical support for data collection and analysis and high-quality programming.—
Linda Darling-Hammond,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2025
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But the collection proved more understated than its presentation, despite its focus on India’s sartorial influence on contemporary fashion.—
Alice Pfeiffer,
CNN Money,
1 July 2025
Verb
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In New York, Tyler, the Creator gathered with a group of young artists for a raw, roundtable discussion about the highs and lows of life in the creative lane.—
Bryanna Symone,
Essence,
10 July 2025
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More powerful and durable The company was founded on the premise that there is presently a bottleneck in the capability of commercial ground stations to download increasing amounts of data gathered by satellites in orbit.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 July 2025
Noun
-
Clean up piles of footwear scattered across the floor and stay organized with a shoe storage cabinet.—
Ali Faccenda,
People.com,
2 July 2025
-
The Wall Street Journal wrote about how the robots are getting flipped over, stuck in snow piles and some students have been found to sit on them, or trip over them, when drinking.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 July 2025
Noun
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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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Instead, voters themselves are jumbles of competing and sometimes contradictory interests.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
14 Feb. 2025
Noun
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This powdered drink mixture comes in cherry and berry, and both flavors are super tasty, similar to something like a less flavorful Gatorade, or maybe more like a Vitaminwater.—
WIRED,
Wired News,
10 July 2025
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While the Bisquick mixture is naturally slightly sweet, ample light brown sugar adds some true depth of sweetness with caramel and molasses notes.—
Catherine Jessee,
Southern Living,
10 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pile (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pile%20%28up%29. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.
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