pile

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, dart, quill, pole driven into the ground, from Old English pīl, from Latin pilum javelin Date: 12th century 1. a long slender column usually of timber, steel, or reinforced concrete driven into the ground to carry a vertical load 2. a wedge-shaped heraldic charge usually placed vertically with the broad end up 3. a. a target-shooting arrowhead without cutting edges b. [Latin pilum] an ancient Roman foot soldier's heavy javelin II. transitive verb (piled; piling) Date: 15th century to drive piles into III. verb (piled; piling) Etymology: Middle English, from 4pile Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to lay or place in a pile ; stack 2. a. to heap in abundance ; load <

piled potatoes on his plate

> b. to collect little by little into a mass — usually used with up intransitive verb 1. to form a pile or accumulation — usually used with up 2. to move or press forward in or as if in a mass ; crowd <

piled into a car

> IV. noun Etymology: Middle English pier of a bridge, stack, heap, from Middle French pille pier of a bridge, from Latin pila pillar Date: 15th century 1. a. (1) a quantity of things heaped together (2) a heap of wood for burning a corpse or a sacrifice b. any great number or quantity ; lot 2. a large building or group of buildings 3. a great amount of money ; fortune 4. reactor 3b V. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French peil, pil hair, coat with thick nap, from Latin pilus hair Date: 15th century 1. a coat or surface of usually short close fine furry hairs 2. a velvety surface produced by an extra set of filling yarns that form raised loops which are cut and sheared • pileless adjective VI. noun Etymology: Middle English pilez, plural, from Medieval Latin pili, perhaps from Latin pila ball Date: 15th century 1. a single hemorrhoid 2. plural hemorrhoids