heap
part of speech
noun (heap, heaps); verb (heap, heaps, heaped, heaping)
meaning for a pupil
1) A heap is a big untidy pile of things on top of each other. tree →
2) Heaps of something means a lot of it (informal, very common in Australia and New Zealand). tree →
3) To heap is to put things in a pile, or to fill something with a lot, like a heaped spoon. tree →
sense in the lessons
A group of things counted or weighed; adding to or taking from a heap. In everyday life: a heap of laundry, a compost heap, a heaped teaspoon in a recipe. In stories: a heap of gold, a heap of leaves. Phrases: «a heap of», «heaps of», «heaps better», «in a heap».
examples
- There is a heap of 40 stones. tree →
- He moved 15 stones from the heap. tree →
- Two heaps have 25 and 30 apples. tree →
- She heaps 3 more spoons of sugar. tree →
- My clothes were in a heap on the floor. tree →
- We put the leaves on the compost heap. tree →
- Thanks heaps for your help! tree →
- The dog jumped into the heap of leaves. tree →
- They divided the money into three heaps. tree →
note
A heap is a group (a total); taking from it subtracts, adding to it adds. Trap: «a heap of» or «heaps of» in speech can just mean «a lot», with no number. A heaped spoon holds more than a level spoon.
In the corpora
- She landed on "a heap of sticks and dry leaves" and "was not a bit hurt".
- Pour vinegar onto a heap of baking soda and it froths up like a witch's cauldron.
- A compost heap gets warm because microbes break down the scraps and release energy as heat.
- In Australian English "heaps" means lots or very, as in "heaps of dashes".
- It's Monday, it's PE, and her kit is in a heap on Dad's bedroom floor.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «heap» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.