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stack

1. A large pile of hay, grain, straw, or the like, usually of a nearly conical form, but sometimes rectangular or oblong, contracted at the top to a point or ridge, and sometimes covered with thatch. But corn was housed, and beans were in the stack. (Cowper)

2. A pile of poles or wood, indefinite in quantity. Against every pillar was a stack of billets above a man's height. (bacon)

3. A pile of wood containing 108 cubic feet.

4. A number of flues embodied in one structure, rising above the roof. Hence: Any single insulated and prominent structure, or upright pipe, which affords a conduit for smoke; as, the brick smokestack of a factory; the smokestack of a steam vessel. Stack of arms, a number of muskets or rifles set up together, with the bayonets crossing one another, forming a sort of conical self-supporting pile.

Origin: Icel. Stakkr; akin to Sw. Stack, Dan. Stak. Sf. Stake.

To lay in a conical or other pile; to make into a large pile; as, to stack hay, cornstalks, or grain; to stack or place wood. To stack arms, to set up a number of muskets or rifles together, with the bayonets crossing one another, and forming a sort of conical pile.

Origin: Cf. Sw. Stacka, Dan. Stakke. See Stack.