1.
a mountain of; piled high; an enormous amount of
A simile likening a large quantity to a mountain. Used with concrete things stacked up (書類, 洗濯物) and with abstract ones (work, complaints).
宿題が山のようにある。
I have a mountain of homework.
机の上に書類が山のように積まれている。
Documents are piled like a mountain on the desk.
連休明けはメールが山のように届いていて、処理に半日かかった。
After the long weekend, a mountain of emails had arrived, and it took half a day to process them.
Modifier built from 山 (mountain) + のよう (looking like). Used adverbially with に (山のように) or as a noun modifier with な.
GRAMMAR:
- With に: as an adverb modifying a verb (山のようにある}、{積まれている、届く)
- With な: as a noun modifier (山のような量)
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 仕事が山のように{ある}: to have a mountain of work
- 山のような書類: a mountain of paperwork
- 不満が山のように{ある}: to have a mountain of complaints
SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS:
- 山{ほど}: 'as much as a mountain' — interchangeable in most contexts, slightly more casual
- たくさん: a lot — neutral and lacks the vivid 'piled high' image
- 膨大な: enormous — more formal, used for abstract quantities like data