Words / B2

PYL/paɪl/

A pile is a heap of things on top of one another; as a verb, to put things in a heap: a pile of scripts; pile up. Heap is a close twin; stack is neater. A pile of unmarked scripts is not a sampling frame. Mix-up: pill is medicine; peer. Do not write pile for a carefully filed archive.

Meaning

A heap of things on top of one another; also to put things in a heap (verb).

Examples

• “A pile of unmarked scripts is not a sampling frame.”
• “Scree piled at the cliff foot, which is the geography sense.”

Good to know

a pile of; pile up / onto. Close: heap / stack. Trap: pill. Exams, news, and fieldwork. A heap, not a catalogue.

Near in meaning

heap

New