pile on

phrasal verb·1 sense·particle on

Meanings

1

Add ever more onto someone

Burdenuncommon

Why “on”? Weight piles on top of you. What is on you is yours to carry.

They keep piling on the deadlines.
They keep adding more and more deadlines on top of one another.
The teacher kept piling on extra homework.
The teacher kept adding more and more homework.

Don't confuse with

pile onpile up

Pile on means add ever more onto someone. Pile up means accumulate in a heap.

Test yourself

They keep piling on the deadlines. What does it mean?

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