Pile, n. [F. pile, L. pila a pillar, a pier or mole of stone. Cf. Pillar.] 1. A mass of things heaped together; a heap; as, a pile of stones; a pile of wood.
2. A mass formed in layers; as, a pile of shot.
3. A funeral pile; a pyre. Dryden.
4. A large building, or mass of buildings.
The pile o'erlooked the town and drew the fight. Dryden.
5. (Iron Manuf.) Same as Fagot, n., 2.
6. (Elec.) A vertical series of alternate disks of two dissimilar metals, as copper and zinc, laid up with disks of cloth or paper moistened with acid water between them, for producing a current of electricity; — commonly called Volta's pile, voltaic pile, or galvanic pile.
☞ The term is sometimes applied to other forms of apparatus designed to produce a current of electricity, or as synonymous with battery; as, for instance, to an apparatus for generating a current of electricity by the action of heat, usually called a thermopile.
7. [F. pile pile, an engraved die, L. pila a pillar.] The reverse of a coin. See Reverse.