as in piles
a quantity of wood heaped together for burning a dead body
a funeral pyre
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Recent Examples of pyres
Carcasses of trees are piled up like pyres in one; in another, they are laid flat like a mass grave.
—
Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 23 Feb. 2026
Varanasi was quite an experience, seeing the funeral pyres.
—Simon Vozick-Levinson, Rolling Stone, 16 Feb. 2026
Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 23 Feb. 2026
Varanasi was quite an experience, seeing the funeral pyres.
—Simon Vozick-Levinson, Rolling Stone, 16 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pyres
Noun
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When the power fails, businesses close, employees lose wages, and spoiled inventory piles up.—
Israel Melendez Ayala,
Time,
28 Feb. 2026
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Defeat piles pressure on Starmer before May elections Labour won just over half the vote in Gorton and Denton at the last general election in 2024.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The same goes for stacks of firewood.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Today any surface that has a coating, any device that uses stacks of extremely thin films — television screens, cell phone screens and the microchips inside — can be traced back to Katharine, repeatedly dipping a metal plate in a trough of water.—
Natalia Sánchez Loayza,
Scientific American,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Competitors often cite the hills of west Little Rock as the highlight and most challenging part of the marathon due to the gain in elevation and the scenery that comes with it.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
1 Mar. 2026
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The scene Sunday evening was quiet in the typically bustling entertainment district amid downtown Austin’s hills and vintage homes, including that of the governor, whose residence is just blocks away.—
Jack Myer,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Mar. 2026
Noun
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There was something about the footprints disappearing in the powder dusting the sidewalks, the heaps of dirty snow that the kids tried to conquer like Everest, and dogs nearly my size scratching their backs on a tiny patch of ice that resonated with me.—
Leslie Hsu Oh,
Outside,
26 Feb. 2026
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The gigantic snowstorm this week left cities scrambling to clear towering heaps that were not showing signs of melting anytime soon.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pyres.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pyres. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
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