Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a woman, usu. with some derog. adj., e.g. lazy heap, fat heap.

1922

Joyce Ulysses 503: That fat heap he married is a nice old phenomenon with a back on her like a ballalley.

2. a man [note heap of coke n.].

1924		D. Hammett ‘Death on Pine Street’ in Nightmare Town (2001) 212: Make the big heap play his hand out [...] Don’t let him drop it.
1969		B. Mason Awatea (1978) 17: Lazy damn’ heap! Back to your work. Go on, you lump of rubbish.
2004		M. Judge Vintage Red 137: Get yourself up out of that, you drunken, lazy heap. I’ve got some tea for you.

3. (orig. US) an automobile [abbr. heap of scrap, heap of junk].

1921		DN V 114: Heap, n. An automobile, especially if old.
1933		R. Chandler ‘Blackmailers Don’t Shoot’ in Red Wind (1946) 80: Ditch the hot one and drive this heap.
1949		A.I. Bezzerides Thieves’ Market 111: How about pulling this heap out of the way, so those guys can get past you?
1957		Kerouac On The Road (1972) 77: He gunned the heap to eighty and passed everybody on the road.
1965		C. Himes Cotton Comes to Harlem (1967) 44: You’ll find those heaps hopped up. The armoured truck has an old Cadillac engine.
1967		J. Wynnum I’m a Jack, All Right 36: This bomb is red hot [...] Sooner or later this heap will be discovered.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 22: The starter caught and Willie bombed the heap away.
1989		M. Amis London Fields 326: The cars don’t mind. They just nudge and shove each other, the old heaps.
1989		R.G. Barrett Boys from Binjiwunyawunya 228: ‘This is his car.’ ‘Not a bad heap’.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 185: It’s this heap’s last stop.
2000		F. Mac Anna Cartoon City 156: ‘Are you sitting comfortably?’ ‘In this heap, you must be joking.’.
2017		T. Pluck Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] ‘This heap’s pretty tight [...] Drives like dad’s old GNX’.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 147: [I] checked the registration [...] Natasha Lytess owned the heap.

4. (US) an (old) aeroplane.

1944

P. Kendall Dict. Service Sl. n.p.: heap . . . an airplane.

5. (Aus./US Und.) a large prison.

1951		D. Dressler Parole Chief 93: At least [...] in a classy heap like this, you get a chance to tell the doc what bothers you.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxv 6/2: heap: Large prison.