<B>pile</B> (1), noun, verb, <B>piled,</B> <B>piling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>many things lying one upon another in a more or less orderly way. <BR> <I>Ex. a pile of stones, a pile of wood.</I> (SYN) stack, heap. <DD><B> 2. </B>a mass like a hill or mound. <BR> <I>Ex. a pile of dirt, snow, or sand.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a large structure or mass of buildings; massive edifice. <BR> <I>Ex. The cathedral is a huge, gloomy pile (Tobias Smollett).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>Also, <B>piles.</B> (Informal, Figurative.) a large amount. <BR> <I>Ex. I have a pile of work to do. We took piles of pictures.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) a very large amount of money; fortune. <BR> <I>Ex. to make one's pile.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a heap of wood on which a dead body or sacrifice is burned; funeral pile. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Nuclear Physics.) the former name of a reactor. <BR> <I>Ex. Fissionable material to fuel the pile will be obtained from the AEC on an extended loan basis (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Electricity.) <DD><B> a. </B>a series of plates of different metals, arranged alternately with cloth or paper wet with acid between them, for producing an electric current; galvanic pile. <DD><B> b. </B>any similar apparatus for producing an electric current; battery. <DD><B> 9. </B><B>=fagot </B>(def. 1). <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1a. </B>to make into a pile; heap evenly; heap up; stack. <BR> <I>Ex. The boys piled the blankets in the corner.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) to amass; accumulate. <BR> <I>Ex. to pile up a fortune.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to cover with large amounts. <BR> <I>Ex. to pile a plate with food.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to place (an object) above something else. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to gather or rise in piles. <BR> <I>Ex. Snow piled against the fences.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to go in a confused, rushing crowd. <BR> <I>Ex. to pile out into the street.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to join together in a group to attack someone. noun <B>piler.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pile">
<B>pile</B> (2), noun, verb, <B>piled,</B> <B>piling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a large, heavy beam driven upright into the ground or the bed of a river to help support a bridge, wharf, or building. <BR> <I>Ex. He could see on the shore ... bamboo huts perched upon piles (Joseph Conrad).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the heavy javelin used in the ancient Roman army by foot soldiers. <DD><B> 3. </B>a pointed blade of grass. <DD><B> 4. </B>the pointed head of an arrow, usually made of metal. <DD><B> 5. </B>a wedge-shaped heraldic bearing, usually extending from the top or upper third (chief) of the escutcheon, with point downward. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to furnish, strengthen, or support with piles; drive piles into. </DL>
<A NAME="pile">
<B>pile</B> (3), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the nap of a fabric, especially a soft, thick nap on velvet, plush, and many carpets. <BR> <I>Ex. The pile of that Chinese rug is almost half an inch long.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>one of the projecting threads or loops of such a nap. <DD><B> 3. </B>a soft fine hair or down, such as the fine short hair of cattle and the wool of sheep. </DL>
<A NAME="pilea">
<B>pilea, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> plural of <B>pileum.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pileate">
<B>pileate, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Botany.) having a pileus or cap, as certain fungi do. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=pileated.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pileated">
<B>pileated, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having the feathers on the top of the head conspicuous; crested. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Botany.) pileate. </DL>
<A NAME="pileatedwoodpecker">
<B>pileated woodpecker,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a very large woodpecker of North America, black with white markings on face, neck, and wings, and a prominent bright-red crest. </DL>
<A NAME="piled">
<B>piled, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having a soft, thick nap, as velvet and similar woven fabrics do. </DL>
<A NAME="piledriver">
<B>pile driver,</B> or <B>piledriver, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a machine for driving piles or stakes into the ground, usually a tall framework in which a heavy weight is raised and then allowed to fall upon the pile; pile engine. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a person who hits or strikes with great power or impact. <BR> <I>Ex. Hill, a 6-ft. 3-in. 212-lb. pile driver, rewarded them by leading the league in rushing (Time).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(in wrestling) a slamming downward of an opponent so that the top of his head hits the canvas. </DL>
<A NAME="piledwelling">
<B>pile dwelling,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a lake dwelling; palafitte. </DL>
<B>pileous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with hair; pilose; hairy. </DL>
<A NAME="piles">
<B>piles, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> a swelling of blood vessels at the anus, often painful; hemorrhoids. </DL>
<A NAME="pileum">
<B>pileum, </B>noun, pl. <B>pilea,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the top of a bird's head between the bill and the nape; the forehead and crown. </DL>
<A NAME="pileup">
<B>pile-up</B> or <B>pileup, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or fact of piling up; accumulation. <BR> <I>Ex. a pile-up of airplanes waiting to land, a pile-up of boxes at the bottom of the stairs.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a massive collision, especially of vehicles. <BR> <I>Ex. a pile-up of cars, the twisted wreckage of a freight-train pile-up.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pileus">
<B>pileus, </B>noun, pl. <B>pilei.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Botany.) the broad umbrellalike fruiting structure forming the top of certain fungi, such as mushrooms; cap. It is supported by a stalk or stem (the stipe) and bears radiating plates (gills) on the under side: <DD><B> 2. </B>a kind of felt skullcap worn by the ancient Romans and Greeks. </DL>
<A NAME="pilewort">
<B>pilewort, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a European herb of the crowfoot family, with bright-yellow, starry flowers and tuberous roots, formerly used in poultices; celandine; lesser celandine. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=fireweed.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=prince's-feather.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pilfer">
<B>pilfer, </B>intransitive verb, transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to steal in small quantities. <BR> <I>Ex. to pilfer from a cash box, to pilfer stamps. The tramp pilfered some apples from the barrel. (Figurative.) And not a year but pilfers as he goes Some youthful grace that age would gladly keep (William Cowper).</I> (SYN) filch. noun <B>pilferer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pilferage">
<B>pilferage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or practice of pilfering; petty theft. <DD><B> 2. </B>that which is pilfered; stolen goods. </DL>
<A NAME="pilfering">
<B>pilfering, </B>noun. <B>=pilferage.</B></DL>
<A NAME="pilgarlic">
<B>pilgarlic, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Dialect.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a poor creature; wretch. <BR> <I>Ex. And so poor pilgarlic came home alone (Jonathan Swift).</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>a bald head. <DD><B> b. </B>a bald-headed man. </DL>
<A NAME="pilgrim">
<B>pilgrim, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who goes on a journey to a sacred or holy place, especially a distant shrine, as an act of religious devotion. In the Middle Ages, many people used to go as pilgrims to Jerusalem and to holy places in Europe. <BR> <I>Ex. Pilgrimes were they alle That toward Canterbury wolden ryde (Chaucer). (Figurative.) Pilgrims from the fifty states going through the tribal ritual of posing for snapshots on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (Ian Sclanders).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person on a journey; traveler; wanderer. <BR> <I>Ex. Like pilgrims to th' appointed place we tend; The world's an inn and death the journey's end (John Dryden).</I> (SYN) wayfarer, sojourner. </DL>
<A NAME="pilgrim">
<B>Pilgrim, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of the Pilgrim Fathers, or early settlers of New England. </DL>
<A NAME="pilgrimage">
<B>pilgrimage, </B>noun, verb, <B>-aged,</B> <B>-aging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a pilgrim's journey; journey to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion. <BR> <I>Ex. Give me my scallopshell ... My staff of faith ... My scrip of joy ... and thus I'll take my pilgrimage (Sir Walter Raleigh).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a journey, especially a long one. (SYN) peregrination, wayfaring. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) life thought of as a journey. <BR> <I>Ex. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it (John Bunyan).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to make a pilgrimage; go on a pilgrimage. <BR> <I>Ex. They pilgrimaged to the Holy Land.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pilgrimbottle">
<B>pilgrim bottle,</B> <B>=costrel.</B></DL>
<A NAME="pilgrimfathers">
<B>Pilgrim Fathers,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the early settlers of New England, especially the English separatist leaders of the first group to come in the <I>Mayflower,</I> who founded the first colony in New England, at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. </DL>
<A NAME="pili">
<B>pili, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the edible nut or seed of a Philippine tree; pili nut. <DD><B> 2. </B>the tree itself. </DL>
<A NAME="piliferous">
<B>piliferous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> bearing or having hair, hairs, or hairlike processes. </DL>
<A NAME="piliform">
<B>piliform, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having the form of a hair; hairlike. </DL>
<B>piling, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>piles or heavy beams driven into the ground, often under water. <DD><B> 2. </B>a structure made of piles. <DD><B> 3. </B>the placing and driving of piles into position. </DL>
<A NAME="pilinut">
<B>pili nut,</B> <B>=pili.</B></DL>
<A NAME="pilipino">
<B>Pilipino, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the official language of the Philippines, based on Tagalog. </DL>
