Words / B2

STAK/stæk/

A stack is a neat pile; as a verb, to pile things, or (of evidence) to add up: the evidence stacks up; a stack of scripts. Pile is everyday; heap is messier. The evidence does not stack up if n is twelve. Mix-up: stake is a share or post (already elsewhere); stock is supply. Do not write stack for a random scatter of papers.

Meaning

A neat pile; also (verb) to pile things, or (of evidence) to add up (stack up).

Examples

• “The evidence does not stack up if your n is twelve, the methods tutor said.”
• “Stack the scripts in candidate-number order, which is the pile sense.”

Good to know

a stack of; stack + objects; stack up. Everyday: pile. Trap: stake / stock. Methods, exams, and IT (stack as a structure). A neat pile, or whether a claim holds.

Near in meaning

pile

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