Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
all of a heap en · ADV
Meanings
-
(colloquial, idiomatic, not-comparable) Into a sudden state of collapse or astonishment.
1916, Algernon Blackwood, The Dance of Death, first published in The Quest: A Quarterly Review
What caught me all of a heap was that million-dollar sense of beauty, youth, and happiness.
I walked straight in expecting to find her waiting for me in the front room, — I was struck all of a heap when I found she wasn’t there.
1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:All of a sudden he remembered the spooks, and it knocked him all of a heap.
2012, Joseph Lewis French, Masterpieces of Mystery, page 218: