heap

B2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /hiːp/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like hip /ɪ/ vs /iː/

Freq #9067

Meanings

1

noun
An untidy pile of things lying on top of each other.

He left his dirty clothes in a heap on the floor.
2

noun
A large amount of something.

We still have a heap of work to finish before Friday.
3

verb
To put things into a pile.

She heaped the dishes in the sink and went to bed.
4

verb
To give someone a great deal of something, such as praise or blame.

The critics heaped praise on her first novel.
5

noun
An old, run-down car or vehicle.

My first car was a rusty old heap that barely started.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 verb · to put things into a pile. pile

Word family

Forms heapedheaped-upheapingheaps

Derived forms aheapant-heapantheapash-heapash-heap-cakedung-heapdustheapheapabilityheapableheapedheaperheapful

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

compost heap
a pile of organic waste left to decay into compost

Noun + noun
rubbish heap
a pile of discarded waste

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

It takes a heap of living to make a house a home

Etymology

From Middle English hepe, from Old English hēap, from Proto-West Germanic *haup, from Proto-Germanic *haupaz (compare Dutch hoop, German Low German Hupen, German Haufen), from Proto-Indo-European *koupos (“hill”) (compare Lithuanian kaũpas, Albanian qipi (“stack”), Avestan 𐬐𐬂𐬟𐬀 (kåfa)).

hepe Middle English hēap Old English *haup Proto-West Germanic *haupaz Proto-Germanic *koupos Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# heap

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /hiːp/
**Frequency rank:** 9067

## Meanings
1. An untidy pile of things lying on top of each other.
2. A large amount of something.
3. To put things into a pile.
4. To give someone a great deal of something, such as praise or blame.
5. An old, run-down car or vehicle.

## Examples
- He left his dirty clothes in a heap on the floor.
- We still have a heap of work to finish before Friday.
- She heaped the dishes in the sink and went to bed.
- The critics heaped praise on her first novel.
- My first car was a rusty old heap that barely started.

## Derived Forms
- aheap
- ant-heap
- antheap
- ash-heap
- ash-heap-cake
- dung-heap
- dustheap
- heapability
- heapable
- heaped
- heaper
- heapful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hepe
- Root: hēap
- Root: *haup
- Root: *haupaz
- Root: *koupos

## Etymology
From Middle English hepe, from Old English hēap, from Proto-West Germanic *haup, from Proto-Germanic *haupaz (compare Dutch hoop, German Low German Hupen, German Haufen), from Proto-Indo-European *koupos (“hill”) (compare Lithuanian kaũpas, Albanian qipi (“stack”), Avestan 𐬐𐬂𐬟𐬀 (kåfa)).

## AI Etymology
Heap comes from Middle English hepe, from Old English hēap, from Proto-West Germanic *haup, from Proto-Germanic *haupaz (compare Dutch hoop, German Low German Hupen, German Haufen), from Proto-Indo-European *koupos (“hill”) (compare Lithuanian kaũpas, Albanian qipi (“stack”), Avestan 𐬐𐬂𐬟𐬀 (kåfa)). In current use, the main senses are “An untidy pile of things lying on top of each other” and “A large amount of something”.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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