piling

UK: /ˈpaɪlɪŋ/ US: (pī′ling)

From the verb pile: (⇒ conjugate)

piling is: ⓘ

v pres p

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pil•ing  (pī′ling), n. 

1. Building a mass of building piles considered collectively.
2. Building a structure composed of piles.

• late Middle English pylyng. See pile², -ing¹ 1400–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

piling / ˈpaɪlɪŋ/ noun

1. the act of driving piles
2. a number of piles
3. a structure formed of piles

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

pile¹ /paɪl/   n., v., piled, pil•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. an assemblage of things lying one upon the other:
   I had a huge pile of papers to correct.
2. Informal Terms a large number or amount of anything:
   a pile of work.
3. Informal Terms a large amount of money:
   He made a pile and vanished somewhere in South America.

v. 

4. to put or lay in a pile:
   [~ + object] to pile leaves.
5. to (cause to) be accumulated, gathered, or stored: [~ + up + object]
   to pile up money.
   [~ + object + up]
   He piled a lot of money up before he retired.
   [~ + on + object]
   really enjoys piling on the homework.
   [~ + object + on]
   She really piles it on right before a holiday.
   [no object* ~ + up]
   His debts kept piling up.
6. to cover or load with a pile:
   [~ + object] The back of the car was piled high with firewood.
7. Informal Terms to move as a group in a more or less confused, disorderly manner:
   [no object] They piled off the train.

pile² /paɪl/   n., v., piled, pil•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. a long, rounded, or flat piece of wood, concrete, etc., hammered upright into soil to form part of a foundation.

v. [~ + object]

2. to drive piles into.

pile³ /paɪl/   n. [uncountable]

1. Zoology a surface or thickness of soft hair, down, etc.
2. Textiles a soft or brushy surface on cloth, etc., formed by upright yarns, as in velvet or terry.

piled, adj.: 

deep-piled, thick carpeting.

pile⁴ /paɪl/   n. Usually, piles. [plural]

1. Pathology hemorrhoids.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pile¹  (pīl), n., v., piled, pil•ing. 
n. 

1. an assemblage of things laid or lying one upon the other:
   a pile of papers; a pile of bricks.
2. Informal Terms a large number, quantity, or amount of anything:
   a pile of work.
3. a heap of wood on which a dead body, a living person, or a sacrifice is burned;
   pyre.
4. a lofty or large building or group of buildings:
   the noble pile of Windsor Castle.
5. Informal Terms a large accumulation of money:
   They made a pile on Wall Street.
6. Metallurgy a bundle of pieces of iron ready to be welded and drawn out into bars;
   fagot.
7. Physics reactor (def. 4).
8. Electricity See voltaic pile. 

v.t. 

9. to lay or dispose in a pile (often fol. by up):
   to pile up the fallen autumn leaves.
10. to accumulate or store (often fol. by up):
    to pile up money; squirrels piling up nuts against the winter.
11. to cover or load with a pile:
    He piled the wagon with hay.

v.i. 

12. to accumulate, as money, debts, evidence, etc. (usually fol. by up).
13. Informal Terms to move as a group in a more or less confused, disorderly cluster:
    to pile off a train.
14. to gather, accumulate, or rise in a pile or piles (often fol. by up):
    The snow is piling up on the roofs.

• Latin pīla pillar, mole of stone
• Middle French
• Middle English 1350–1400

Synonyms

• 1. collection, heap, mass, accumulation, stack, mound, batch.

pile²  (pīl), n., v., piled, pil•ing. 
n. 

1. a cylindrical or flat member of wood, steel, concrete, etc., often tapered or pointed at the lower end, hammered vertically into soil to form part of a foundation or retaining wall.
2. Heraldry an ordinary in the form of a wedge or triangle coming from one edge of the escutcheon, from the chief unless otherwise specified.
3. Sport [Archery.] the sharp head or striking end of an arrow, usually of metal and of the form of a wedge or conical nub.
4. Heraldry in pile, (of a number of charges) arranged in the manner of a pile.

v.t. 

5. to furnish, strengthen, or support with piles.
6. to drive piles into.

• Latin pīlum javelin
• bef. 1000; Middle English; Old English pīl shaft

pile³  (pīl), n. 

1. Anatomy, Zoology hair.
2. Zoology soft, fine hair or down.
3. Zoology wool, fur, or pelage.
4. Textiles a fabric with a surface of upright yarns, cut or looped, as corduroy, Turkish toweling, velvet, and velveteen.
5. Textiles such a surface.
6. Textiles one of the strands in such a surface.

• Latin pilus hair; -i- short in Latin but long in Anglicized school pronunciation
• Middle English piles hair, plumage 1300–50

pile⁴  (pīl), n. Usually, piles. 

1. Pathology a hemorrhoid.
2. Pathology the condition of having hemorrhoids.

• Latin pilae literally, balls. See pill¹
• late Middle English pyles (plural) 1375–1425

pile⁵  (pīl), n. 

1. Currency the lower of two dies for coining by hand.

• Medieval Latin pīla, special use of Latin pīla pile¹
• Middle English pyl reverse of a coin 1350–1400

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pile / paɪl/ noun

1. a collection of objects laid on top of one another or of other material stacked vertically; heap; mound
2. a large amount of money (esp in the phrase make a pile)
3. (often plural) a large amount: a pile of work
4. a less common word for pyre
5. a large building or group of buildings
6. short for voltaic pile
7. a structure of uranium and a moderator used for producing atomic energy; nuclear reactor
8. an arrangement of wrought-iron bars that are to be heated and worked into a single bar
9. the point of an arrow

verb

1. (often followed by up) to collect or be collected into or as if into a pile: snow piled up in the drive
2. (intr; followed by in, into, off, out, etc) to move in a group, esp in a hurried or disorganized manner: to pile off the bus
3. pile arms ⇒ to prop a number of rifles together, muzzles together and upwards, butts forming the base

Etymology: 15th Century: via Old French from Latin pīla stone pier

pile / paɪl/ noun

1. a long column of timber, concrete, or steel that is driven into the ground to provide a foundation for a vertical load (a bearing pile) or a group of such columns to resist a horizontal load from earth or water pressure (a sheet pile)
2. an ordinary shaped like a wedge, usually displayed point-downwards

verb (transitive)

1. to drive (piles) into the ground
2. to provide or support (a structure) with piles

Etymology: Old English pīl, from Latin pīlum

pile / paɪl/ noun

1. the yarns in a fabric that stand up or out from the weave, as in carpeting, velvet, flannel, etc
2. one of these yarns
3. soft fine hair, fur, wool, etc

Etymology: 15th Century: from Anglo-Norman pyle, from Latin pilus hair