• Heap

    Pronunciation

    • enPR: hÄ“p, IPA: /hiːp/
    • Rhymes: -iːp

    Origin

    Middle English heep, from Old English hēap, from Proto-Germanic *haupaz (cf. Dutch hoop, Low German Hupen, German Haufen), from Proto-Indo-European *koupos ‘hill’ (cf. Lithuanian kaũpas, Albanian qipi ‘stack’, Avestan (kaofa))

    Full definition of heap

    Noun

    heap

    (plural heaps)
    1. A crowd; a throng; a multitude or great number of people.
      • Francis Bacona heap of vassals and slaves
      • W. BlackHe had heaps of friends.
    2. A pile or mass; a collection of things laid in a body, or thrown together so as to form an elevation.a heap of earth or stones
      • DrydenHuge heaps of slain around the body rise.
    3. A great number or large quantity of things.
      • Bishop Burneta vast heap, both of places of scripture and quotations
      • Robert Louis StevensonI have noticed a heap of things in my life.
    4. (computing) A data structure consisting of trees in which each node is greater than all its children.
      • 2012, May 9, Jonathan Wilson, Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao, Every break seemed dangerous and Falcao clearly had the beating of Amorebieta. Others, being forced to stretch a foot behind them to control Arda Turan's 34th-minute cross, might simply have lashed a shot on the turn; Falcao, though, twisted back on to his left foot, leaving Amorebieta in a heap, and thumped in an inevitable finish – his 12th goal in 15 European matches this season.

    Synonyms

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To pile in a heap.He heaped the laundry upon the bed and began folding.
    2. (transitive) To form or round into a heap, as in measuring.
      • 1819, , Otho the Great, Act I, scene II, verses 40-42Cry a reward, to him who shall first bringNews of that vanished Arabian,A full-heap’d helmet of the purest gold.
    3. (transitive) To supply in great quantity.They heaped praise upon their newest hero.
    © Wiktionary