heap

[heep]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR heap ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a group of things placed, thrown, or lying one on another; pile: a heap of stones.

Informal. a great quantity or number; multitude: a heap of people.

Slang. an automobile, especially a dilapidated one.

verb (used with object)

to gather, put, or cast in a heap; pile (often followed by up, on, together, etc.).

to accumulate or amass (often followed by up or together): to heap up riches.

to give, assign, or bestow in great quantity; load (often followed by on or upon): to heap blessings upon someone; to heap someone with work.

to load, supply, or fill abundantly: to heap a plate with food.

verb (used without object)

to become heaped or piled, as sand or snow; rise in a heap or heaps (often followed by up).

Idioms

all of a heap, Informal.

overwhelmed with astonishment; amazed: We were struck all of a heap upon hearing of their divorce.
suddenly; abruptly: All of a heap the room was empty.

Origin of heap

before 900; 1925–30 for def 3; Middle English heep, Old English hēap; cognate with Dutch hoop, Old High German houf; akin to German Haufe

Related formsheap·er, nounheap·y, adjectiveo·ver·heap, verb (used with object)un·heaped, adjective

Synonyms for heap

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR heap ON THESAURUS.COM

1. mass, stack; accumulation, collection.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for heap

bundle, lump, jumble, clump, stack, ton, concentrate, dump, load, profusion, gathering, stockpile, pot, scad, cluster, fullness, concentration, total, mint, bunch

Examples from the Web for heap

Contemporary Examples of heap

Since then, Abilify has risen from the fifth-most-prescribed drug to the top of the heap.
Mother’s Little Anti-Psychotic Is Worth $6.9 Billion A Year
Jay Michaelson
November 9, 2014
He snatched up the thrown chair and crashed it down onto the head of a charging older black man, who crumpled into a heap.
Inside a Hospital for the Criminally Insane
Caitlin Dickson
September 15, 2014
This regrettable action will, of course, ignite a racial gang war, leaving a heap of bodies in its wake.
Inside 'Sons of Anarchy's' Final Season: Creator Kurt Sutter on the Most Brutal Season Yet
Annaliza Savage
September 10, 2014
Heap praise, not scorn, on physicians who are brave and caring enough to recommend cannabis when appropriate.
I Got a Weed License in Minutes
Daniela Drake
June 24, 2014
Nestled here, in the southwestern corner of the compound, is a heap of crumbling concrete.
Pablo Escobar’s Private Prison Is Now Run by Monks for Senior Citizens
Jeff Campagna
June 7, 2014

Historical Examples of heap

Peart and cunnin', but a heap too wise fur you, son; take my steer on that.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
He made of himself but a cock, set for a while on the world's heap to scratch and pick.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
And how of the heap of trifles that you can see for yourselves in yonder corner?
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
Diablo's no angel, as you've said, Langdon, and this boy made him a heap worse.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
"The Denson kids are a heap worse, if she only knew it," he said, and followed her willingly.
Chip, of the Flying U
B. M. Bower

British Dictionary definitions for heap

heap

noun

a collection of articles or mass of material gathered together in one place

(often plural usually foll by of) informal a large number or quantity

give them heaps Australian slang to contend strenuously with an opposing sporting team

give it heaps NZ slang to try very hard

informal a place or thing that is very old, untidy, unreliable, etcthe car was a heap

adverb

heaps (intensifier)he said he was feeling heaps better

verb

(often foll by up or together) to collect or be collected into or as if into a heap or pileto heap up wealth

(tr; often foll by with, on, or upon) to load or supply (with) abundantlyto heap with riches

Derived Formsheaper, noun

Word Origin for heap

Old English héap; related to Old Frisian hāp, Old Saxon hōp, Old High German houf

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for heap

Old English heap "pile, great number, multitude" (of things or persons), from West Germanic *haupaz (cf. Old Saxon hop, Old Frisian hap, Middle Low German hupe, Dutch hoop, German Haufe "heap"), perhaps related to Old English heah "high." Slang meaning "old car" is attested from 1924. As a characteristic word in American Indian English speech, "a lot, a great deal," by 1832.

Old English heapian "collect, heap up, bring together;" from heap (n.). Related: Heaped; heaping. Cf. Old High German houfon "to heap."