"pile on" meaning in English

See pile on in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-pile on.ogg [Australia] Forms: pile ons [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} pile on (plural pile ons)
  1. Nonstandard spelling of pile-on. Tags: alt-of, nonstandard Alternative form of: pile-on Related terms: dogpile
    Sense id: en-pile_on-en-noun-XZDzWkQ4 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English phrasal verbs with particle (on), English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 39 10 4 20 27 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 41 12 5 19 23 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs with particle (on): 39 16 12 15 18 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 41 14 6 20 19

Verb

Audio: En-au-pile on.ogg [Australia] Forms: piles on [present, singular, third-person], piling on [participle, present], piled on [participle, past], piled on [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} pile on (third-person singular simple present piles on, present participle piling on, simple past and past participle piled on)
  1. (transitive, intransitive) To jump on top of someone or something quickly. Tags: intransitive, transitive Derived forms: pile-on [noun]
    Sense id: en-pile_on-en-verb--hf6~P4-
  2. (transitive, intransitive, figurative) To criticize someone or something in a concerted effort; to add on some additional critique. Tags: figuratively, intransitive, transitive
    Sense id: en-pile_on-en-verb-q3w9D~BJ
  3. (intransitive, figurative, sports) To unnecessarily extend the margin of a winning score. Tags: figuratively, intransitive Categories (topical): Sports
    Sense id: en-pile_on-en-verb-4wow8mRw Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, sports
  4. (transitive, informal) To add or apply in great quantities. Tags: informal, transitive
    Sense id: en-pile_on-en-verb-g5jjg-wd

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for pile on meaning in English (5.7kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "piles on",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "piling on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "piled on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "piled on",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "pile on (third-person singular simple present piles on, present participle piling on, simple past and past participle piled on)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39 0 0",
          "tags": [
            "noun"
          ],
          "word": "pile-on"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2006, Steven M. Hallock, Editorial and Opinion: The Dwindling Marketplace of Ideas in Today's News, Praeger, page 69",
          "text": "As football linebackers pile on a quarterback in a blitz, the newspaper editorialist heaped sarcasm onto the president.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Human Kinetics with Thomas Hanlon, The Sports Rules Book - 3rd Edition, Human Kinetics, page 116",
          "text": "Piling on: Players may not pile on a runner after the ball is dead or intentionally fall upon any prostrate player.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Michael Harston, The Show: The Michael Thomas Story, Xlibris, page 21",
          "text": "The quarterback turns and hands the ball to his fullback just as Sumo hits him in the backfield causing a fumble. Ball loose, ball loose screamed Jones. There is a mad scramble for the loose ball as bodies pile on top of each other.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To jump on top of someone or something quickly."
      ],
      "id": "en-pile_on-en-verb--hf6~P4-",
      "links": [
        [
          "transitive",
          "transitive"
        ],
        [
          "intransitive",
          "intransitive"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, intransitive) To jump on top of someone or something quickly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "OK, OK, they've already gotten the constructive criticism. Now you're just piling on.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 May 20, Luke Holland, “Piling on Nickelback is old hat. Can't we all just move on already?”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "Piling on Nickelback is old hat. Can't we all just move on already? Chad Kroeger and his band are still the group everyone loves to hate, but after the Queensland police put out a wanted poster for them for ‘crimes against music’ Luke Holland asks: has the hating gone too far?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 December 31, Alexis Carey, “'Worst ever': Melania Trump's legacy brutally mocked”, in NZ Herald",
          "text": "The hashtag #WorstFlotusEver has started to take off on Twitter, with critics piling on the former model by listing their many grievances and mocking her achievements over the past four years.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To criticize someone or something in a concerted effort; to add on some additional critique."
      ],
      "id": "en-pile_on-en-verb-q3w9D~BJ",
      "links": [
        [
          "transitive",
          "transitive"
        ],
        [
          "intransitive",
          "intransitive"
        ],
        [
          "criticize",
          "criticize"
        ],
        [
          "add on",
          "add on"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, intransitive, figurative) To criticize someone or something in a concerted effort; to add on some additional critique."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Sports",
          "orig": "en:Sports",
          "parents": [
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To unnecessarily extend the margin of a winning score."
      ],
      "id": "en-pile_on-en-verb-4wow8mRw",
      "links": [
        [
          "sports",
          "sports"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, figurative, sports) To unnecessarily extend the margin of a winning score."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To add or apply in great quantities."
      ],
      "id": "en-pile_on-en-verb-g5jjg-wd",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, informal) To add or apply in great quantities."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-pile on.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/51/En-au-pile_on.ogg/En-au-pile_on.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/En-au-pile_on.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pile on"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pile ons",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "pile on (plural pile ons)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "pile-on"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "39 10 4 20 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 12 5 19 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 16 12 15 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (on)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 14 6 20 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Nonstandard spelling of pile-on."
      ],
      "id": "en-pile_on-en-noun-XZDzWkQ4",
      "links": [
        [
          "pile-on",
          "pile-on#English"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "dogpile"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "nonstandard"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-pile on.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/51/En-au-pile_on.ogg/En-au-pile_on.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/En-au-pile_on.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pile on"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English phrasal nouns",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs with particle (on)",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "noun"
      ],
      "word": "pile-on"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "piles on",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "piling on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "piled on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "piled on",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "pile on (third-person singular simple present piles on, present participle piling on, simple past and past participle piled on)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2006, Steven M. Hallock, Editorial and Opinion: The Dwindling Marketplace of Ideas in Today's News, Praeger, page 69",
          "text": "As football linebackers pile on a quarterback in a blitz, the newspaper editorialist heaped sarcasm onto the president.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Human Kinetics with Thomas Hanlon, The Sports Rules Book - 3rd Edition, Human Kinetics, page 116",
          "text": "Piling on: Players may not pile on a runner after the ball is dead or intentionally fall upon any prostrate player.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Michael Harston, The Show: The Michael Thomas Story, Xlibris, page 21",
          "text": "The quarterback turns and hands the ball to his fullback just as Sumo hits him in the backfield causing a fumble. Ball loose, ball loose screamed Jones. There is a mad scramble for the loose ball as bodies pile on top of each other.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To jump on top of someone or something quickly."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "transitive",
          "transitive"
        ],
        [
          "intransitive",
          "intransitive"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, intransitive) To jump on top of someone or something quickly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "OK, OK, they've already gotten the constructive criticism. Now you're just piling on.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 May 20, Luke Holland, “Piling on Nickelback is old hat. Can't we all just move on already?”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "Piling on Nickelback is old hat. Can't we all just move on already? Chad Kroeger and his band are still the group everyone loves to hate, but after the Queensland police put out a wanted poster for them for ‘crimes against music’ Luke Holland asks: has the hating gone too far?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 December 31, Alexis Carey, “'Worst ever': Melania Trump's legacy brutally mocked”, in NZ Herald",
          "text": "The hashtag #WorstFlotusEver has started to take off on Twitter, with critics piling on the former model by listing their many grievances and mocking her achievements over the past four years.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To criticize someone or something in a concerted effort; to add on some additional critique."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "transitive",
          "transitive"
        ],
        [
          "intransitive",
          "intransitive"
        ],
        [
          "criticize",
          "criticize"
        ],
        [
          "add on",
          "add on"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, intransitive, figurative) To criticize someone or something in a concerted effort; to add on some additional critique."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "en:Sports"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To unnecessarily extend the margin of a winning score."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sports",
          "sports"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, figurative, sports) To unnecessarily extend the margin of a winning score."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To add or apply in great quantities."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, informal) To add or apply in great quantities."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-pile on.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/51/En-au-pile_on.ogg/En-au-pile_on.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/En-au-pile_on.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pile on"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English phrasal nouns",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs with particle (on)",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pile ons",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "pile on (plural pile ons)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "dogpile"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "pile-on"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English nonstandard forms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Nonstandard spelling of pile-on."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "pile-on",
          "pile-on#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "nonstandard"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-pile on.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/51/En-au-pile_on.ogg/En-au-pile_on.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/En-au-pile_on.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pile on"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.