I. stack 1 /stæk/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old Norse ; Origin: stakkr ]
1 . [countable] a neat pile of things ⇨ heap
stack of
a stack of papers
stacks of dirty dishes
2 . a stack of something/stacks of something especially British English informal a large amount of something:
He’s got stacks of money.
3 . [countable] a chimney
4 . the stacks [plural] the rows of shelves in a library where the books are kept
⇨ blow your top/stack at ↑ blow 1 (16)
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ pile a group of things of the same type that are put on top of each other:
a huge pile of cardboard boxes
▪ stack a neat pile of things of the same type:
There were stacks of books on the floor.
▪ heap a large messy pile of things:
All his clothes were in a heap on the floor.
▪ mound a pile of something with a round shape:
a small mound of rice on the plate
▪ mountain a very large pile of something with a round shape:
a mountain of dirty laundry waiting to be washed
II. stack 2 BrE AmE verb
1 . ( also stack up ) [intransitive and transitive] to make things into a neat pile, or to form a neat pile:
The assistants price the items and stack them on the shelves.
a stacking hi-fi system
2 . [transitive] to put neat piles of things on something:
He went back to stacking the shelves.
be stacked with something
The floor was stacked with boxes.
3 . the odds/cards are stacked against somebody used to say that someone is unlikely to be successful
4 . stack the cards British English , stack the deck American English informal to arrange cards dishonestly in a game
stack up phrasal verb
1 . stack something ↔ up to make things into a neat pile
2 . informal used to talk about how good something is compared with something else
stack up against
Parents want to know how their kids’ schools stack up against others.
3 . if a number of things stack up, they gradually collect or get stuck in one place:
Traffic stacked up behind the bus.