stack

I. noun Etymology: Middle English stak, from Old Norse stakkr; akin to Russian stog stack and probably to Old English staca stake Date: 14th century 1. a large usually conical pile (as of hay, straw, or grain in the sheaf) left standing in the field for storage 2. a. an orderly pile or heap b. a large quantity or number 3. an English unit of measure especially for firewood that is equal to 108 cubic feet 4. a. a number of flues embodied in one structure rising above a roof b. a vertical pipe (as to carry off smoke) c. the exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine 5. a. a structure of bookshelves for compact storage of books — usually used in plural b. plural a section of a building housing such structures 6. a pile of poker chips 7. a. a memory or a section of memory in a computer for temporary storage in which the last item stored is the first retrieved; also a data structure that simulates a stack <

a push-down stack

> b. a computer memory consisting of arrays of memory elements stacked one on top of another II. verb Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to arrange in a stack ; pile b. to pile in or on <

stacked the table with books

> <

stack the dishwasher

> 2. a. to arrange secretly for cheating <

stack a deck of cards

> b. to arrange or fix so as to make a particular result likely <

the odds are stacked against us

> <

will stack juries to suit themselves — Patrice Horn

> 3. a. to assign (an airplane) by radio to a particular altitude and position within a group circling before landing b. to put into a waiting line <

another dozen rigs are stacked up and waiting — P. H. Hutchins, Jr.

> 4. compare — used with against <

such a crime is nothing when stacked against a murder — Pete Censky

> intransitive verb to form a stack • stacker noun