STACK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does stack mean? 

• STACK (noun)
  The noun STACK has 5 senses:

1. an orderly pile

2. (often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent

3. a list in which the next item to be removed is the item most recently stored (LIFO)

4. a large tall chimney through which combustion gases and smoke can be evacuated

5. a storage device that handles data so that the next item to be retrieved is the item most recently stored (LIFO)

  Familiarity information: STACK used as a noun is common.

• STACK (verb)
  The verb STACK has 3 senses:

1. load or cover with stacks

2. arrange in stacks

3. arrange the order of so as to increase one's winning chances

  Familiarity information: STACK used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STACK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An orderly pile

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("stack" is a kind of...):

agglomerate; cumulation; cumulus; heap; mound; pile (a collection of objects laid on top of each other)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stack"):

hayrick; haystack; rick (a stack of hay)

Derivation:

stack (arrange in stacks)

stack (load or cover with stacks)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

batch; deal; flock; good deal; great deal; hatful; heap; lot; mass; mess; mickle; mint; mountain; muckle; passel; peck; pile; plenty; pot; quite a little; raft; sight; slew; spate; stack; tidy sum; wad

Context example:

a wad of money

Hypernyms ("stack" is a kind of...):

large indefinite amount; large indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stack"):

deluge; flood; inundation; torrent (an overwhelming number or amount)

haymow (a mass of hay piled up in a barn for preservation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A list in which the next item to be removed is the item most recently stored (LIFO)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

push-down list; push-down stack; stack

Hypernyms ("stack" is a kind of...):

list; listing (a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics))

Sense 4

Meaning:

A large tall chimney through which combustion gases and smoke can be evacuated

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

smokestack; stack

Hypernyms ("stack" is a kind of...):

chimney (a vertical flue that provides a path through which smoke from a fire is carried away through the wall or roof of a building)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stack"):

funnel ((nautical) smokestack consisting of a shaft for ventilation or the passage of smoke (especially the smokestack of a ship))

Sense 5

Meaning:

A storage device that handles data so that the next item to be retrieved is the item most recently stored (LIFO)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

push-down storage; push-down store; stack

Hypernyms ("stack" is a kind of...):

memory device; storage device (a device that preserves information for retrieval)

• STACK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they stack    ... he / she / it stacks   
Past simple: stacked   
Past participle: stacked   
-ing form: stacking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Load or cover with stacks

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

stack a truck with boxes

Hypernyms (to "stack" is one way to...):

lade; laden; load; load up (fill or place a load on)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something with something

Sentence examples:

They stack the cart with boxes
They stack the books into the box

Also:

stack away (keep or lay aside for future use)

Derivation:

stack (an orderly pile)

stacker (a laborer who builds up a stack or pile)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Arrange in stacks

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

heap; pile; stack

Context example:

stack your books up on the shelves

Hypernyms (to "stack" is one way to...):

arrange; set up (put into a proper or systematic order)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stack"):

rick (pile in ricks)

cord (stack in cords)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They stack their rifles on the cabinet

Also:

stack up (arrange into piles or stacks)

Derivation:

stack (an orderly pile)

stacker (a laborer who builds up a stack or pile)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Arrange the order of so as to increase one's winning chances

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

stack the deck of cards

Hypernyms (to "stack" is one way to...):

arrange; set up (put into a proper or systematic order)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

Me for her, you can stack on that.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

These clouds provide the team with insight into how Kepler-51 b and 51 d stack up against other low-mass, gas-rich planets outside of our solar system.

('Cotton Candy' Planet Mysteries Unravel in New Hubble Observations, NASA)

Fortunately, Mercury in Pisces will get along beautifully with the planets stacking up in Capricorn, so you won’t encounter any obstacles that you can’t cleverly fix.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

This could be achieved by stacking and connecting multiple paper batteries.

(New Type of Battery Created from Paper, Fueled by Bacteria, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Research by scientists at Brown and Columbia Universities has demonstrated the existence of previously unknown states of matter that arise in double-layer stacks of graphene, a two-dimensional nanomaterial.

(Research reveals exotic quantum states in double-layer graphene, National Science Foundation)

Acridine and its derivatives intercalate within DNA and RNA by forming hydrogen-bonds and stacking between base pairs resulting in DNA crosslinks and strand breaks.

(Acridine, NCI Thesaurus)

Chlorophyll is associated with the membrane of vesicles (thylakoids) that are stacked to form grana.

(Chloroplast, NCI Thesaurus)

CubeSats, named for the roughly 4-inch-cubed dimensions of their basic building elements, are stacked with smartphone-like electronics and tiny scientific instruments.

(Six-decade-old space mystery solved with shoebox-sized satellite called a CubeSat, National Science Foundation)

A stack of flattened vesicles located between the nucleus and the secretory pole or surface of a cell.

(Golgi Apparatus, NCI Thesaurus)

The engines were soon upon the spot, but the dry wood burned with great fury, and it was impossible to arrest the conflagration until the stack had been entirely consumed.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)