The Collaborative International Dictionary
Stack \Stack\ (st[a^]k), n. [Icel. stakkr; akin to Sw. stack, Dan. stak. Cf. Stake.]
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A large and to some degree orderly 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. -
Hence: An orderly pile of any type of object, indefinite in quantity; -- used especially of piles of wood. A stack is usually more orderly than a pile
Against every pillar was a stack of billets above a man's height.
--Bacon. Specifically: A pile of wood containing 108 cubic feet.
Hence: A large quantity; as, a stack of cash. [Informal]
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(Arch.)
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.
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(Computer programming)
A section of memory in a computer used for temporary storage of data, in which the last datum stored is the first retrieved.
A data structure within random-access memory used to simulate a hardware stack; as, a push-down stack.
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pl. The section of a library containing shelves which hold books less frequently requested.
Stack of arms (Mil.), a number of muskets or rifles set up together, with the bayonets crossing one another, forming a sort of conical self-supporting pile.
to blow one's stacks to become very angry and lose one's self-control, and especially to display one's fury by shouting.