pile-on

See also: pile on

English

Etymology

Deverbal from pile on.

Noun

pile-on (plural pile-ons)

1. An argument or fight in which one side is greatly advantaged by being more numerous or more closely allied than the other side.
   • 2019 November 19, Brigid Delaney, “It's the era of the Twitter pile-on. Isn't there something healthier we can do with our rage?”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     We are in a time of never-ending Twitter pile-ons. Sometimes the criticism is warranted: Twitter can be a place for marginalised voices to amplify or bring attention to an injustice they have suffered.

   • 2020 December 6, Marie O'Halloran, “Social media ‘pile on’ against Sinn Féin critics does not aid party, Ó Broin says”, in The Irish Times‎^[2]:

     A social media “pile-on” against anyone who criticises Sinn Féin does not aid or assist the party, its housing spokesman has said.

   • 2021 February 2, Katharine Murphy, “Scott Morrison must heed the lesson of Donald Trump and slap down Craig Kelly”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     Muzzling Kelly also elevates a semi-professional obscurantist to the status of free speech martyr, and that invites a cacophonous pile-on from the rightwing bobble heads who screech about the left’s obsession with identity politics while shovelling identity politics at their audiences.

   • 2022 May 18, Michelle Goldberg, “Amber Heard and the Death of #MeToo”, in The New York Times‎^[4], →ISSN:

     Online, there’s a level of industrial-scale bullying directed at Heard that puts all previous social media pile-ons to shame.

Related terms

• pile-up

Anagrams

• Leipon, Pelion, Pinole, pinole