pile up | Idiomator

Meaning: (transitive)To form apile,stack, orheap.Synonyms:seeThesaurus:pile upCoordinate term:pile onThe kidspiled uptheir boots and coats by the back door.[1898],J[ohn] Meade Falkner,Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.:Jonathan Cape, published1934,→OCLC:And still the hours passed, and at last I knew by the glimmer of light in the tomb above that the sun had risen again, and a maddening thirst had hold of me. And then I thought of all the barrelspiled upin the vault and of the liquor that they held; and stuck not because 'twas spirit, for I would scarce have paused to sate that thirst even with molten lead.1911, James George Frazer,The Golden Bough, volume 9, page14:In the Norwegian district of Tellemarken a cairn ispiled upwherever anything fearful has happened, and every passer-by must throw another stone on it, or some evil will befall him.1977,Agatha Christie, chapter 2, inAn Autobiography, part II, London:Collins,→ISBN:If I close my eyes I can see Marie today as I saw her then. Round, rosy face, snub nose, dark hairpiled upin a chignon.; (idiomatic,intransitive)Tocollectoraccumulate, as abacklog.Synonym:head upThe requestspiled upwhile she was away.1945January and February, “Notes and News: American Locomotives in France”, inRailway Magazine, page46:The locomotive was the now inevitable American 2-8-0, No. 2623. There she stood, effectively blocking the level crossing, simmering gently, massively inert. It was almost dark, and one's final sight was of her high, firelit cab, the enginemen nonchalantly leaning out, waiting for the right-away, while impatient road convoyspiled upon both sides of the crossing.1962August, G. Freeman Allen, “Traffic control on the Great Northern Line”, inModern Railways, page131/132:There are the engines that develop ill-health and begin to lose time, or the wagons that develop hot boxes and have to be removed, initiating delays that steadilypile up—or at worst, the weather lays its hand on the whole District.

Examples:

EN: After all, you can't pile up six years of something, and then just leave it in a flash.
ES: Después de todo, no puedes reunir seis años de algo y dejarlo en un santiamén.
EN: The answer can't be just to pay bills or pile up more money.
ES: La respuesta no puede ser sólo para pagar las facturas o ahorrar dinero.
EN: But when they are combined in us to perform the normal functions of our bodies, they give off poisons which pile up a burden of decay which we call old age.
ES: Pero cuando se combinan en nosotros, para el normal funcionamiento de nuestros cuerpos, emiten un veneno que por saturación termina por corromperse. Ese es lo que llamamos vejez.
EN: You see, under a brotherhood plan like that... it'll be impossible for any one man to pile up a lot of goods... or have power over his neighbors.
ES: Con un plan de cofradía como ése... será imposible que un solo hombre acumule muchos bienes... o tenga poder sobre sus vecinos.
EN: Tables, boxes. Anything you can pile up where the ladder was.
ES: Mesas, cajas.Apilen lo que puedan en lugar de la escalera.
EN: You started married life on one, now you'll find one trick will pile up on another.
ES: Una noche descubrirás que un truco se acumula sobre otro.
EN: Things pile up in three days.
ES: El trabajo se acumula en tres días.
EN: Bad business, letting things pile up on your desk like that.
ES: Tenía la mesa con un montón de asuntos como ese apilados.
EN: Sometimes they pile up. Looks pretty bad.
ES: A veces se amontonan y la cosa se pone muy fea.
EN: 'Cash told you once that all the mistakes you had made 'were going to pile up and someday fall on you like a ton of slag.
ES: Billetes te dijo que los errores que cometiste... se apilarían y te caerían encima como una tonelada de escombros.
EN: I'm gonna pile up the Southern Cross.
ES: Hundiré el Southern Cross.
EN: No matter how many planes and tanks and guns you pile up, no matter how many men you got, it doesn't mean a thing, unless the men get the stuff when they need it.
ES: Por más aviones, tanques y armas que tengas... por más soldados que haya... eso no sirve de nada si no recibes las provisiones a tiempo.
EN: Things are really beginning to pile up on us.
ES: Estábamos al borde de la desesperación.
EN: That's where they pile up and go wild.
ES: Allí es donde se amontonan y se alocan.
EN: I'll bet you get a cold down-wind through here in the winter, pile up a lot of snow, too.
ES: Seguro que en invierno se crean corrientes de aire aquí. Y también se acumula nieve.

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