pileup

noun

pile·​up ˈpī(-ə)l-ˌəp 

1

: a collision involving usually several motor vehicles

2

a

: a jammed tangled mass or pile (as of motor vehicles or people) resulting from collision or accumulation

b

: accumulation

Synonyms

• accretion
• accumulation
• assemblage
• collection
• cumulation
• cumulus
• gathering
• lodgment
• lodgement

Examples of pileup in a Sentence

A five-car pileup slowed traffic.

a pileup of e-mail messages that needed to be dealt with

Recent Examples on the Web

Listen to this article Ramon Gonzalez was a dedicated husband and father looking forward to celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary next year — until a drunk driver sparked a four-car pileup that claimed his life in the Bronx — his family says. —Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2024

As to the gory that was Rome, there are brawls, murders, mutilations, executions, death by CGI wild animal and multi-chariot pileups. —Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2024

The fatal pileup occurred on Interstate 5 after a Jeep hit a guardrail around 3 a.m. local time. —Charmaine Patterson, Peoplemag, 29 June 2024

The rest is a strictly routine pileup of car crashes, shoot-outs and wisecracks. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1900, in the meaning defined at sense 1