pile on

present singular third person piles on · participle present piling on · participle past piled on · past piled on

1. ambitransitiveTo jump on top of someone or something quickly.

   Piling on: Players may not pile on a runner after the ball is dead or intentionally fall upon any prostrate player.

   2009, Human Kinetics with Thomas Hanlon, The Sports Rules Book - 3rd Edition, Human Kinetics, →ISBN, page 116

   2 more examples

   As football linebackers pile on a quarterback in a blitz, the newspaper editorialist heaped sarcasm onto the president.

   2006, Steven M. Hallock, Editorial and Opinion: The Dwindling Marketplace of Ideas in Today's News, Praeger, →ISBN, page 69

   The quarterback turns and hands the ball to his fullback just as Sumo hits him in the backfield causing a fumble. Ball loose, ball loose screamed Jones. There is a mad scramble for the loose ball as bodies pile on top of each other.

   2011, Michael Harston, The Show: The Michael Thomas Story, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 21

2. ambitransitivefigurativelyTo criticize someone or something in a concerted effort; to add on some additional critique.

   OK, OK, they've already gotten the constructive criticism. Now you're just piling on.

   2 more examples

   Piling on Nickelback is old hat. Can't we all just move on already? Chad Kroeger and his band are still the group everyone loves to hate, but after the Queensland police put out a wanted poster for them for ‘crimes against music’ Luke Holland asks: has the hating gone too far?

   2015 May 20, Luke Holland, “Piling on Nickelback is old hat. Can't we all just move on already?”, in The Guardian

   The hashtag #WorstFlotusEver has started to take off on Twitter, with critics piling on the former model by listing their many grievances and mocking her achievements over the past four years.

   2020 December 31, Alexis Carey, “'Worst ever': Melania Trump's legacy brutally mocked”, in NZ Herald

3. figurativelyintransitivehobbiesTo unnecessarily extend the margin of a winning score.
4. informaltransitiveTo add or apply in great quantities.

plural pile ons

1. nonstandardNonstandard spelling of pile-on.