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heap Definition

heap (hēp)

noun

  1. a pile, mass, or mound of things jumbled together
  2. Informal a great number or amount a heap of toys, heaps of money
  3. ☆ Slang an automobile, esp. an old, dilapidated one

Etymology: ME hepe, a troop, heap < OE heap, a troop, band, multitude, akin to Ger hauf(en), Du hoop < IE *keub- < base *keu-, bend, arch > hop, hive

transitive verb

  1. to make a heap of; bring together into a pile
  2. to give or supply in large amounts; load to heap gifts upon someone
  3. to fill (a plate, dry measure, etc.) full or to overflowing

intransitive verb

to accumulate or rise in a heap, or pile

heap Synonyms

heap

n.

pile, accumulation, mass, agglomeration, stack, load, collection, aggregation, stock, store, hoard, mountain, mound, abundance, profusion, bulk, fullness, volume, plenty, lump, total, sum, whole, huddle, mow, barrow, cartload, swell, harvest, hillock, deposit, carload, cargo, cock, wagonload, block, pyre, packet, jumble, pyramid, hill, cluster, confused mass, drift, bale, clump, shock, batch, bundle, bunch, gathering, amassment, acervation, concentration, haul*, junk pile*, full house*, lots*; see also quantity.

Antonyms handful, bit*, a few specks.

heap Synonyms

heap

v.

  1. To place in a heap

    pile, add, swell, bunch, lump, stack, rank, order, cord, bank, fill up, arrange, pile high, dike, hill, barricade, fill to overflowing, throw together, rake together, batch together, bunch together, draw together, fill up, pile up, heap up, mass, barrow, ruck, gather, dump, concentrate, mound, coacervate, deposit, dredge, group, throw in a heap, cast in a heap, gather in a heap, shock; see also load 1, pack 2.

    Antonyms scatter*, flatten, level.

  2. To amass

    gather, pile up, lay up, store; see accumulate 1.

heap Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • rubble: Can they make building stones out of heaps of burnt rubble?
  • dung: This means both the heap of dung and the coarse grasses that grow from that heap.
  • junk: To the uninitiated, i.e. a woman, the car looked like a clapped out heap of junk only fit for the scrap yard!

Object

  • tablespoon: Level teaspoon of dried mixed herbs or a heaped tablespoon of fresh chopped mixed herbs.
  • teaspoon: Recommended Dosage is one heaped teaspoon per day ( about 3g ).
  • praise: Prime Minister Winston Churchill has heaped praise on London's firefighters.
  • tsp: Mix a heaped tsp of wholegrain mustard into a tbs Greek yogurt and add chopped fresh herbs of your choice.

Adjective modifier

  • crumpled: They walk, the run, they fire guns, they fall to the floor in a crumpled heap.
  • rubbish: Were he to find where I put my rubbish heap, he would say: " You shouldn't go there!
  • tangled: Within 48 hours, the printing presses of the newspaper lay in a twisted, tangled heap, destroyed by anti-tank explosives.
  • untidy: She lay in an untidy heap, her head under the table, and her figure sprawling.
  • rusty: I'd sell the yellow one first if someone really wanted it and didn't want the rusty heap to go with it.

Modifies a noun

  • leach: During the heap leach trial phase, the concerns of these communities were addressed on a continuous basis by EN officers.
  • overflow: Each of these cases result in a heap overflow.

Noun used with modifier

  • slag: The slag heaps or pit mounds of closed mines have been put to many new uses.
  • compost: All through keeping a compost heap in your living room.
  • spoil: Not a lot to see - some old walls; numerous shallow pits; spoil heaps.
  • scrap: I feel like I'm the scrap heap at 41.
  • dung: The word started life meaning dung heap, then later refuse or rubbish heap.
  • muck: You will be amazed at how much smaller your muck heap is!
heap Quotes

Our style should be as a skein of silk, to be carried and found by the right thread, not ravelled and perplexed; then all is a knot, a heap.

—Jonson, Ben

   With aching hands and bleeding feet We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; We bear the burden and the heat Of the long day, and wish 'twere done. Not till the hours of light return, All we have built do we discern.

—Arnold, Matthew

We get richer and richer in filthier and filthier communities until we reach a final stage of affluent miseryöa crocus on a garbage heap.

—Gardner,JohnWilliam

Heap high the groaning platter with pink fillets, sucking pig and thick gammon, celestial chef. Be generous with the crackling. Let your hand slip with the gravy trough, dispensing plenty.

—MacBeth, George Mann

'Tis not, what once it was, the world; But a rude heap together hurl'd.

—Marvell, Andrew