dogpile

American  

[dawg-pahyl, dog] / ˈdɔgˌpaɪl, ˈdɒg /

Or dog-pile

noun

1. a number of people throwing themselves on top of one another, as in a brawl or a celebration of victory.

   Frank hauls in the pass just after crossing the goal line, ending up under a dogpile of his teammates in the end zone.

2. a flurry of critical or negative comments about someone or something by a large number of people.

   Take a perfectly reputable person, find a weakness, convince others to join the dogpile against them, and pretty soon you destroy them.

3. any large, rapid, or disorderly accumulation.

   There’s no way anybody can stay abreast of the dogpile of updates the average user receives daily.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to join or form a jumble of people throwing themselves on top of (someone), as in a brawl or a celebration of victory.

   Several of the club’s bouncers dogpiled on my hapless brother.

   Players dogpiled the young hero after his last-minute winning goal.

2. to join with others in a flurry of critical or negative comments about (someone or something).

   It’s my first post here, so don't dogpile me!

   Not to dogpile on you, kiddo, but I agree—you were the one who started it all with the sarcasm.

3. to load (someone or something) to the limit.

   When programming, don’t try to dogpile too many operations into one component of the application.

   Political attention will sometimes dogpile onto a single issue.

Etymology

Origin of dogpile

First recorded in 1910–15; dog ( def. ) + pile ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

With Bol and her teammates in a dogpile celebrating on the track, Mahuchikh failed to clear.

From Washington Times • Aug. 27, 2023

Brennan: Your mention of Dylan brings us to terrain I’m better equipped to handle than a case of epididymitis run amok: The film’s phantasmagoric dogpile of cinematic, cultural and political points of reference.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2023

“But what about then? What about before the 2017 dogpile started on Mr. Weinstein?”

From Seattle Times • Dec. 1, 2022

“Some of the really active communities, like Bored Apes or Lazy Lions, can dogpile on someone pretty easily.”

From Slate • Nov. 18, 2021

A dogcow also appears if you choose `Page Setup…' with a LaserWriter selected and click on the `Options' button. :dogpile: /v./

From The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0, 24 Jul 1996 by Raymond, Eric S.