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Glite Dictionary
pig pile

pig pile

6.7
A playful heap of people on top of each other
  • noun
  • Informal
translation icon : montón de niños
  • It took a few minutes for everyone to untangle themselves from the pig pile after the tackle.

Examples

  • Look at that pig pile of children on the trampoline!

  • At the birthday party, the children made a pig pile on top of the birthday girl.

  • After winning the match, the team celebrated with a pig pile in the middle of the field.

  • Can we join the pig pile too?

  • The kids formed a pig pile on the grass and laughed joyfully as they tumbled over each other.

  • After playing tag, the children collapsed in a messy pig pile near the slide.

  • During the birthday party, guests jumped into a huge pig pile for a fun group photo.

Synonyms

heap
vspig pile
53 1.1

A pile of things put on top of each other in no order

involves people playfully climbing on one another in a chaotic way

Antonyms

single file
19 2.8

A line of people or things where one is behind another

Surface Forms

pig pile singular
pig piles plural

Morphology

pig + pile

The head noun 'pile' clearly signals a heap, so a learner who knows 'pile' would expect some sort of stacked mass; however 'pig' does not literally denote people and here serves as a playful, metaphorical modifier (evoking messy/chaotic animal imagery). This metaphorical extension makes the exact meaning 'a playful heap of people' partially inferable but not fully predictable without exposure, so it is best classified as semi-transparent.

Etymology

Pig pile may come from the sight of piglets sleeping in a warm heap. The image of many little pigs in a messy pile helps explain why the phrase now means 'a playful heap of people', like friends or children all piled on top of one another after a win or at a party.