pile /paɪl/► SEE ALLmake a/your pilepile on the agony/gloomat the bottom/top of the pile/heaplay it on thick/with a trowel ●make a/your ˈpile (informal) make a lot of money赚一大堆钱；发财◆If you want to make a pile, don’t go into the restaurant business. 如果你想赚大钱的话，不要做餐饮业。●pile on the ˈagony/ˈgloom (informal, especially BrE) 1.make sth unpleasant sound much worse than it really is in order to gain sympathy from other people（对困境）添油加醋，大肆渲染（以博取同情）◆He always piles on the agony when he has a cold; you’d think he was dying. 他感冒时总是夸大其词，你会以为他快死了。2.make sb feel even worse about an unpleasant situation使雪上加霜；往伤口上撒盐◆The latest fare increase just piles on the gloom for rail passengers, who already feel they are paying too much. 最近铁路票价上涨使乘客雪上加霜，他们本就觉得票价过高了。●at the bottom/top of the ˈpile/ˈheap (informal) in a low/high position in society处于社会的底层／高层◆You’ve no idea what life at the bottom of the pile is like, have you? When do you ever talk to ordinary people?你不知道社会底层的人是怎样生活的，是不是？你什么时候和普通百姓说过话？●lay it on ˈthick/with a ˈtrowel ( pile it on ˈthick, pile it ˈon) say that sth is much better or much worse than it really is because you want to impress or annoy sb（为给某人留下深刻印象而）过分吹捧，过分贬低，言过其实◆He said that she was his favourite author and that she deserved the Nobel Prize for literature. He really laid it on with a trowel.他对她说，她是自己最喜欢的作家，还说她应该获得诺贝尔文学奖。他对她真是不吝溢美之词。◆My father really piled it on, shouting at me for ages about my exam results.我父亲真是小题大做，因为我考试没考好冲我大喊大叫了老半天。