PILES Synonyms: 260 Similar and Opposite Words

piles 1 of 3

noun (1)

plural of pile

as in stacks

a quantity of things thrown or stacked on one another a large pile of newspapers that needed to be disposed of

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in loads

a considerable amount a job that paid piles of money

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

piles

2 of 3

noun (2)

plural of pile

as in furs

a soft airy substance or covering the lush pile of the carpeting

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as in wools

the hairy covering of a mammal especially when fine, soft, and thick a dog with such a dense pile that he never minded the cold

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piles

3 of 3

verb

present tense third-person singular of pile

as in heaps

to lay or throw on top of one another piled all the clothes on the chair before putting them away

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

unpiles

as in huddles

to gather into a closely packed group the kids piled into the car

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of piles

Noun

There’s joy, there’s music, there’s magically regenerating food, trees that flower and fruit at the same time, piles of treasure, crystals that rain from the sky, everlasting happiness and health. — Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026 Discreet ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘maybe’ piles of pictures appear on the floor, to be reviewed by Grimes and Gallici later. — Lucy Maguire, Vogue, 21 Oct. 2026 Everyone piles into his red pickup truck, a 20-year-old Toyota Tacoma, with Betty leading the charge. — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 21 Oct. 2026 Some houses in the neighborhood already had piles of sandbags sitting on their front porches. — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026 Relocate Leaf Litter and Wood Piles Leaf litter, wood piles, and other yard debris offer shelter not only to pests but also to beneficial insects and wildlife. — Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 16 Oct. 2026 When the lid loosens, LINE1 jumps around, DNA damage piles up and biological aging speeds up. — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Oct. 2026 From bass pros on massive lakes to weekend anglers at backwoods farm ponds, these lures catch piles of bass. — Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 15 Oct. 2026 Soil fertility is mostly beside the point, and even an inconvenience, since lawns have to be mowed, leaves blown into piles, and pollen hosed off windshields in the spring. — James Whorton Jr, Longreads, 13 Oct. 2026

Verb

My father piles French toast and syrup onto a plate and my mother pours a glass of milk. — Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026 Big swine farms produce huge amounts of solid waste, which piles up in lagoons until a flood can wash them into rivers. — Bill McKibben, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2026 Once a week, Hall piles his three kids in the car, drives five minutes to Costco and turns into the second row of the parking lot. — Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 30 July 2026 According to relationship experts at The Gottman Institute, couples who talk through those details in advance tend to adjust more smoothly and argue less about the small stuff that piles up after move-in day. — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 29 July 2026 Instead of asking whether existing programs are delivering results, Congress piles new spending and new funding streams onto an already fragmented system. — Andy Harris, Baltimore Sun, 4 July 2026 The dirty laundry never piles up, nor does the ready-to-fold pile. — Tessa Cooper, The Spruce, 30 June 2026 More specifically — and without spoiling a story that piles the twists as high as the corpses — Pine's an ex-British soldier pulled from his porter duties and recruited to surveil a ruthless arms dealer, Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) staying at the hotel. — Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Apr. 2026 The result piles more pressure on Starmer, the least popular prime minister since records began, according to some polls. — Alexander Smith, NBC news, 27 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for piles

Noun

There’s a dazzling variety available, from madeleine pans to cartoon character pans to massive stacks of wedding cake pans, both round and square.

— Anne Ewbank, Sacbee.com, 21 Oct. 2026
Industrial jigsaws slice stacks of denim into precise panels, which nearby seamsters then stitch into jeans, skirts, and jackets.

— Charlie Campbell, Time, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of stacks

Noun

Cranes lift 200-ton loads at mountain bridge site The R4300-200 has a maximum lifting capacity of 200 metric tons (220 US tons) and an 80-meter jib (262 feet).

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2026
Its remaining civil rights workers have described untenable case loads and pressure to dismiss complaints.

— Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of loads

Noun

The Hollywood Reporter got a sneak peek of Meemaw, which sees Barr running amok in thrift store furs at rooster fights — closer in tone to trailer park comedy like My Name Is Earl than the three-camera repartee of Roseanne.

— Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 20 Oct. 2026
The ban covers textiles, leather, furs and hides in clothing, footwear and other related accessories for the general public.

— Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of furs

Noun

Using luxurious cottons, silks, wools and linen to emphasize the simplicity and ease of wardrobe staples — T-shirts, shorts, sweatshirts, skirts, button-down shirts, pants and tunics — elevating their wearability for day and night.

— Tonya Blazio-Licorish, Footwear News, 4 Aug. 2026
Although the word cashmere is sometimes incorrectly applied to extremely soft wools, only the product of the cashmere goat is true cashmere.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026

Definition of wools

Verb

Despite his injury, Tasci continued to be an active participant on the sideline and in team huddles throughout the game.

— Sean Campbell, Daily News, 28 Aug. 2026
An engineer overhears a sales call where a partner is requesting a specific feature and immediately huddles with the salesperson once the line clicks shut.

— Vikram Joshi, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026

Definition of huddles

Noun

Israel regularly imposes restrictions on movement across the Palestinian occupied territory with some 925 checkpoints, roadblocks, earth mounds and other barriers.

— Ruth Sherlock, NPR, 24 Oct. 2026
But despite this, they were still conceived of as being located within the mounds themselves, real-world anchors for these strange, marvelous realms.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of mounds

Noun

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said earlier this week that the first shipment would amount to 40,000 tons of diesel, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
To meet those requirements, the company customized its L760-50 luffing-jib tower crane, which has a maximum lifting capacity of 50 metric tons (55 US tons) and a maximum jib length of 60 meters (197 feet).

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of tons

Noun

Bringing together heritage styles with seasonal interpretations, the space will also offer a bespoke trench service to preserve and restore coats, plus opportunities for personalization.

— Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 26 Oct. 2026
Now, Silverstein is hoping to organize swaps for back-to-school, prom season, winter coats and other high-consumption, single-use times of year.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026