pile-upn.
/ˈpʌɪlʌp/, U.S. /ˈpaɪlˌəp/ 1.
a. An accumulation; an amassing of material, tasks, etc.; a crowd.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > mass formed by collection of particles > an accumulation
accumulation1490
amass1567
compile1595
compilement1655
collection1697
lodgement1739
cumulation1892
pile-up1937
1899 W. D. Howells Their Silver Wedding Journey II. xlvi. 88 That pile-up of the roofs from the Burg.
1937 Science 14 May (Suppl.) 13/2 There would seem to be a pile-up of denser rock material in these areas.
1963 Times 5 Feb. 13/3 More people might well be laid off in spite of the pile-up of work waiting for them.
1976 C. Bonington Everest Hard Way vii. 75 A particularly bad pile-up of climbers and sherpas occurred as they waited to climb the big sérac wall.
2001 Brill's Content Apr. 130/1 The idea is to prevent a pileup of Caucasian talking heads.
b. Electronics. A lack of linearity or resolution in a pulse circuit caused by the pulses arriving too rapidly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > electronic circuit > [noun] > specific conditions in circuit
race1946
pile-up1955
1955 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 229 502 At high counting rates there was a change in the ratio due to the ‘pile-up’ of counts in the counter.
1973 Nature 23 Mar. 270/2 This potential source of electronic pile-up background was eliminated by anti-pile-up circuitry.
1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 428/2 Instrument saturation of the MT at Mercury 1, known as electron pulse pileup, provided unexpected and unplanned observations of Mercury's magnetospheric energetic (>35 keV) electron population.
2. A crash or collision, esp. one involving several vehicles; the scene of such a crash; the wreckage of the vehicles involved. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > vehicular traffic > [noun] > collision or accident > involving several vehicles
pile-up1900
shunt-up1976
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > motor vehicle > involved in crash
pile-up1951
1900 Evening Democrat (Warren, Pa.) 14 Nov. (headline) Big pile up..freight wreck takes place about a mile from Clarendon.
1951 W. Sansom Face of Innocence x. 138 We passed one pile-up with its dead-slumped radiator and its ragged little crowd.
1973 Times 1 Aug. 2/8 Three people were killed and three seriously injured in a pile-up involving three lorries and a car on the A17.
1986 Auckland Metro Feb. 111/1 With seven guys and seven ideas and attitudes we could have a pile up. But..we can sort it out.
2001 S. Brett Death on Downs (2002) viii. 63 The people who turn up when something nasty's happened, the kind who queue up on motorways to look at pile-ups.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1899