as in accumulations
a mass or quantity that has piled up or that has been gathered over a period of time
a pileup of e-mail messages that needed to be dealt with
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 pileups
The shortage of agents has caused massive pileups at security checkpoints.
—
Garrett Downs, CNBC, 17 Mar. 2026
Spring wind events can produce sudden dust storms that reduce visibility to near zero, leading to deadly highway pileups.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 1 Mar. 2026
Seven vehicles were involved in two pileups that occurred in a five-minute period Monday on the Golden Gate Bridge, the California Highway Patrol reported.
—Cameron MacDonald, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026
On Tuesday night, New York City’s color-loving partygoers braved the fierce cold, emerging from cars on Gansevoort Street clad in floor-length sequin gowns and a kaleidoscope of prints, stepping over three-foot snow pileups to enter the museum.
—Gaby Keiderling, Vogue, 28 Jan. 2026
Smart uses of trays can add style and function to your home and avoid clutter pileups.
—Abby Wolner, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Jan. 2026
Such low visibility poses a considerable risk, potentially leading to accidents and vehicle pileups.
—Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
Instead, the generic ‘90s throwback action movie plays like a string of car-crash pileups and urban destruction with little of interest in terms of the human element.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025
These particle pileups produce a petabyte of data every second, the most interesting of which is poured into data centers, accessible to thousands of physicists worldwide.
—IEEE Spectrum, 2 Apr. 2025
Garrett Downs, CNBC, 17 Mar. 2026
Spring wind events can produce sudden dust storms that reduce visibility to near zero, leading to deadly highway pileups.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 1 Mar. 2026
Seven vehicles were involved in two pileups that occurred in a five-minute period Monday on the Golden Gate Bridge, the California Highway Patrol reported.
—Cameron MacDonald, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026
On Tuesday night, New York City’s color-loving partygoers braved the fierce cold, emerging from cars on Gansevoort Street clad in floor-length sequin gowns and a kaleidoscope of prints, stepping over three-foot snow pileups to enter the museum.
—Gaby Keiderling, Vogue, 28 Jan. 2026
Smart uses of trays can add style and function to your home and avoid clutter pileups.
—Abby Wolner, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Jan. 2026
Such low visibility poses a considerable risk, potentially leading to accidents and vehicle pileups.
—Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
Instead, the generic ‘90s throwback action movie plays like a string of car-crash pileups and urban destruction with little of interest in terms of the human element.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025
These particle pileups produce a petabyte of data every second, the most interesting of which is poured into data centers, accessible to thousands of physicists worldwide.
—IEEE Spectrum, 2 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pileups
Noun
-
Snow rates of 1 inch per hour are expected across parts of North and South Dakota, with northern Minnesota also seeing heavy accumulations.—
Brandi D. Addison,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
-
East-central South Dakota and parts of southwestern Minnesota may see significant icing, with freezing rain accumulations of a quarter to half an inch on elevated surfaces like power lines and trees.—
Brandi D. Addison,
Sioux Falls Argus Leader,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
On Saturday morning, piles of bricks and mud were all that were left, along with blankets, cooking utensils and other personal belongings salvaged from the rubble and set into a pile.—
Elena Becatoros,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Start with one dedicated space and make piles for keep, toss, and donate.—
Alora Bopray,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Arches and natural bridges sweep like buttresses from jumbles of rock, giving this landscape a mystical, cathedral-like quality.—
Madison Chapman,
Outside,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Macaroons are chewy jumbles of coconut bound together with egg whites and sweetened condensed milk.—
Lynda Balslev,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The goal is to design, manufacture, and test a prototype thruster capable of stable operation with Earth’s atmospheric gases (N₂/O₂ mixtures), achieving at least 50% electrical efficiency and a minimum specific impulse of 4200 s.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Mar. 2026
-
The move by the Environmental Protection Agency will allow retailers to sell less expensive formulations of gasoline, including mixtures that include 15% ethanol — known as E15 — that typically are not permitted during warmer months.—
Brianne Pfannenstiel,
Des Moines Register,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Most of the Art Institute’s antiquities, silver objects, and musical instrument collections were still in storage, but the trustees had placed statuary, paintings, and other items in the halls.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Samples from the voyage have been shared around the country, held in collections including at the CSIRO, the Australian Museum and state museums — ensuring these deep-sea discoveries are preserved for scientists and curious minds alike.—
Hanna Wickes,
Charlotte Observer,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Breakfast at Sophia works perfectly for multi-generational gatherings.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
1 Apr. 2026
-
On Sunday, police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the church, citing security concerns as Israel enforces a ban on gatherings in synagogues, churches and mosques during the ongoing war with Iran, which has brought missile strikes near holy sites.—
Lucia I Suarez Sang,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pileups.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pileups. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
