heap of papers
1
2.8
- noun
- The teacher noticed a heap of papers left on the floor and asked the students to tidy up.
Examples
-
Hurrying toward her, he kicked over a pile of pamphlets standing in the aisle, tripped, and staggered forward, fetching up against his desk with a force that sent another heap of papers toppling to the floor.
Fiction book (1992) -
After weeks of organizing, she finally cleared the heap of papers from her desk.
-
Haphazard heaps of papers, photos, files, and printouts are piled everywhere on expensive antique tables and couches.
Fiction book (2000) -
He had to search through the heap of papers to find the important documents for the meeting.
Synonyms
193
1.0
A pile of things placed one on top of another
85
1.1
A pile of things put on top of each other in no order
8
2.1
A large amount of things collected together, often in a stack
2
3.5
A very large pile of papers such as forms that you must complete
Antonyms
How Many
1
2.8
208
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a large, untidy pile of papers' is directly and compositionally derived from 'heap' (a pile) + 'of' (linking preposition) + 'papers' (objects), so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer the phrase meaning. This nominal composition is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common pattern and therefore immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Heap of papers comes from the word heap, meaning a large, messy pile, and papers, the sheets you write on. So the picture of many sheets thrown together is why it means 'a large, untidy pile of papers'.