pile up
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb (transitive):
- To gather or accumulate things into a heap or mass.
- To form a stack or mound by placing things on top of each other.
Verb (intransitive):
- To increase in quantity or amount over time, often forming an untidy accumulation.
Usage
- As a transitive verb, "pile up" takes a direct object (the things being accumulated).
- As an intransitive verb, it describes a process where things accumulate by themselves.
- It often implies a rapid, disorderly, or excessive accumulation.
Examples
- Transitive use:
- Intransitive use:
Advanced Usage
- "to pile up evidence/data": To collect and gather evidence or information systematically over time.
- Used figuratively to describe the accumulation of abstract things like problems, debt, or stress.
Variants and Related Words
- Accumulate (v): To gather or collect over time, often gradually. (More formal)
- Amass (v): To collect a large amount of something, especially wealth or information.
- Heap up (v): Similar to "pile up," emphasizing a messy, unorganized heap.
- Stack up (v): To arrange in a neat pile or stack. (Often implies more order than "pile up")
Synonyms
- Accumulate
- Gather
- Collect
- Heap
- Stack
- Aggregate
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Pile on: To add more of something, often criticism or work, to an existing load.
- Pile into: To enter a vehicle or place quickly and in a disorderly group.
Related Idioms
- Pile up the miles: To travel a great distance, often by car.
- (Things) are piling up: A common expression meaning one has too many tasks or items accumulating.
Verb
- get or gather together
- I am accumulating evidence for the man's unfaithfulness to his wife
- She is amassing a lot of data for her thesis
- She rolled up a small fortune
- arrange into piles or stacks
- She piled up her books in my living room
- collect or gather
- Journals are accumulating in my office
- The work keeps piling up