n. & v.
--n.
1. a pile or heap, esp. in orderly arrangement.
2 a circular or rectangular pile of hay, straw, etc., or of grain in sheaf, often with a sloping thatched top, a rick.
3 colloq. a large quantity (a stack of work; has stacks of money).
4 a chimney-stack. b SMOKESTACK. c a tall factory chimney.
5 a stacked group of aircraft.
6 (also stack-room) a part of a library where books are compactly stored, esp. one to which the public does not have direct access.
7 Brit. a high detached rock esp. off the coast of Scotland and the Orkneys.
8 a pyramidal group of rifles, a pile.
9 Computing a set of storage locations which store data in such a way that the most recently stored item is the first to be retrieved.
10 Brit. a measure for a pile of wood of 108 cu. ft. (30.1 cubic metres).
--v.tr.
1. pile in a stack or stacks.
2 a arrange (cards) secretly for cheating. b manipulate (circumstances etc.) to one's advantage.
3 cause (aircraft) to fly round the same point at different levels while waiting to land at an airport.
Phrases and idioms:
stack arms hist. pile arms. stack up US colloq. present oneself, measure up. stack-yard an enclosure for stacks of hay, straw, etc.
Derivatives:
stackable adj. stacker n.
Etymology: ME f. ON stakkr haystack f. Gmc