heart S1 W1 /hɑːt $ hɑːrt/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: adjective : heartened ≠ ↑ disheartened , ↑ heartening ≠ ↑ disheartening , ↑ heartless , ↑ hearty ; noun : ↑ heart , ↑ heartlessness , ↑ heartiness ; adverb : ↑ heartily , ↑ heartlessly , ↑ hearteningly ≠ ↑ dishearteningly ; verb : ↑ hearten ≠ ↑ dishearten ]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: heorte ]
1 . BODY ORGAN [countable] the organ in your chest which pumps blood through your body:
Regular exercise is good for the heart.
Can you hear my heart beating?
Her cheeks were hot and her heart was pounding.
My heart raced. Were we going to land safely?
Daniel had no history of heart problems.
She suffers from a rare heart condition.
His breathing and heart rate were now normal.
2 . EMOTIONS/LOVE [countable] the part of you that feels strong emotions and feelings:
His heart was full of anger and grief.
The plight of the refugees had tugged at the nation’s heart.
The doctor had an extremely kind heart.
She could hardly speak for the ache in her heart.
It would break Kate’s heart (=make her extremely sad) to leave the lovely old house.
He left the country with a heavy heart (=great sadness) .
Edith loved her boy with all her heart and soul.
I was still pretty innocent then when it came to affairs of the heart (=matters relating to love and sex) .
a woman with a heart of gold (=very kind character)
Sometimes I think he’s got a heart of stone (=very cruel character) .
I’m glad I followed my heart rather than my head for once.
My father told me never to let my heart rule my head.
kind-hearted/cold-hearted/hard-hearted etc (=having a kind, unkind, cruel etc character)
He thinks of himself as a warm-hearted and caring human being.
3 . YOUR CHEST [countable usually singular] the part of your chest near your heart:
He put his hand on his heart.
4 . SHAPE [countable] a shape used to represent a heart
5 . from the (bottom of your) heart with great sincerity and strength of feeling:
Leonard spoke from the heart.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
She sang the songs straight from the heart.
6 . in your heart (of hearts) if you know, feel, or believe something in your heart, you are secretly sure about it although you may not admit it:
In her heart she knew she would never go.
Deep in his heart, he wanted Laura back.
7 . IMPORTANT PART OF SOMETHING [singular] the most important or central part of a problem, question etc
the heart of something
difficult issues at the heart of science policy
We must get to the heart of the problem.
8 . ENCOURAGEMENT [uncountable] confidence and courage:
This inspiring service gave us new heart.
We mustn’t lose heart when people complain.
We’ve got to take a bit of heart from the fact that we won.
9 . at heart if you are a particular kind of person at heart, that is the kind of person that you really are even though you may appear or behave differently:
He may be a working class boy at heart, but his lifestyle has been transformed.
Let’s face it, we’re all romantics at heart.
⇨ have sb’s (best) interests at heart at ↑ interest 1 (5), ⇨ young at heart at ↑ young 1 (5)
10 . THE CENTRE OF AN AREA [countable] the middle part of an area furthest from the edge
in the heart of something
a house in the heart of London
at the heart of something
an old house at the heart of an ancient forest
11 . close/dear to sb’s heart very important to someone:
The President liked to go to Williamsburg, a place close to his heart.
Money is dear to Kathleen’s heart.
12 . the hearts and minds of somebody the thoughts, emotions, and attitudes a group of people have about a particular subject, which is a combination of their strong emotional feelings and their calm and sensible thoughts:
The president must try to win the hearts and minds of the voters.
13 . by heart when you know something by heart, you remember all of it exactly:
After a few days of phoning Stephanie, he knew her number by heart.
Actors have to learn their lines by heart.
14 . sb’s heart sinks used to say that someone suddenly lost hope and began to feel unhappy:
Her heart sank when she saw the number of books she had to read.
15 . with all your heart with all your strength, energy, or emotion:
He hates Los Angeles with all his heart.
We sang the hymn with all our hearts.
16 . take something to heart to consider what someone says to you very seriously, often because it upsets you:
Anne took his criticisms very much to heart.
We took Stephen’s warnings to heart.
17 . sb’s heart goes out to somebody used to say that someone feels a lot of sympathy towards another person:
My heart goes out to the families of the victims.
18 . CARD GAMES
a) [countable] a heart shape printed in red on a playing card
b) hearts [plural] the ↑ suit (=set) of playing cards that have these shapes on them:
the ace of hearts
c) [countable] one of the cards in this set:
Have you got any hearts?
19 . do something to your heart’s content to do something as much as you want:
She had lazed around the pool to her heart’s content.
The dog can run to its heart’s content out there.
20 . sb’s heart misses/skips a beat used to say that someone suddenly feels a moment of fear or excitement:
His heart missed a beat as he saw the body of a small child at the water’s edge.
21 . set your heart on something to want something very much:
His father bought him the bike he had set his heart on.
She had set her heart on becoming a hairdresser.
22 . a man/woman etc after my own heart someone who likes the same things or behaves in the same way that you do:
Geoff really is a man after my own heart.
23 . cry/sing etc your heart out if you cry, sing etc your heart out, you do it with all your energy or emotion:
He found me crying my heart out and was so kind.
⇨ eat your heart out at ↑ eat (4), ⇨ pour your heart out at ↑ pour
24 . your heart’s desire/everything your heart could desire the one thing you want most, or everything that you could possibly want:
To have a baby was her heart’s desire.
25 . not have the heart to do something to be unable to do something because it will make someone unhappy:
I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her beautiful vase was broken.
26 . sb’s heart isn’t in it used to say that someone does not really want to do something:
She’s getting bored with the job and her heart’s not in it.
27 . do something out of the goodness of your heart to do something out of kindness, not because you have been asked or expect a reward:
All these people were helping us out of the goodness of their hearts.
28 . take somebody to your heart if people take someone to their hearts, they like them very much:
The fans have taken Hudson to their hearts.
29 . VEGETABLE [countable] the firm middle part of some vegetables:
artichoke hearts
30 . give/lose your heart to somebody to start to love someone very much
31 . my heart was in my mouth used to say that you suddenly felt very afraid
32 . sb’s heart is in the right place informal used to say that someone is really a kind person and has the right feelings about something important:
I don’t think his idea will work, though his heart’s in the right place.
33 . it does your heart good to see/hear something used to say that something makes you feel happy
34 . sb’s heart leaps literary used to say that someone suddenly feels happy and full of hope:
‘I couldn’t live without you,’ he said and Jane’s heart leapt.
35 . be in good heart formal to feel happy and confident:
The team are in good heart and ready for the season’s matches.
36 . have a heart! used to tell someone not to be too strict or unkind – used humorously
37 . know the way to sb’s heart to know the way to please someone – used humorously
38 . my heart bleeds (for somebody) used to say that you do not really feel any sympathy towards someone
⇨ a broken heart at ↑ broken 2 (9), ⇨ cross my heart at ↑ cross 1 (11), ⇨ have a change of heart at ↑ change 2 (1), ⇨ sick at heart at ↑ sick 1 (9), ⇨ strike at the heart of something at ↑ strike 1 (7), ⇨ wear your heart on your sleeve at ↑ wear 1 (8), ⇨ win sb’s heart at ↑ win 1 (3)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)
■ verbs
▪ sb’s heart beats
Her heart was beating fast.
▪ sb’s heart pounds/thuds/thumps (=it beats very strongly)
He reached the top, his heart pounding.
▪ sb’s heart races (=it beats very fast)
Was there someone in the alley? Joe’s heart began to race.
■ heart + NOUN
▪ heart trouble/problems
You should not take this medication if you have heart problems.
▪ heart disease
Smoking increases the risk of heart disease.
▪ a heart condition (=something wrong with your heart)
The baby was born with a heart condition.
▪ sb’s heart rate (=the number of times someone’s heart beats per minute)
Your heart rate increases as you exercise.
■ adjectives
▪ healthy
Eating oily fish can help maintain a healthy heart.
▪ a bad/weak heart (=an unhealthy heart)
The effort proved too much for her weak heart.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ adjectives
▪ a good/kind heart (=a kind character)
My father had a good heart.
▪ a big heart (=a kind and generous character)
She may be only small, but she has a big heart.
▪ a soft heart (=a kind and sympathetic character)
Julia’s soft heart had been touched by Minnie’s grief.
▪ a cold/hard heart (=used about someone who does not feel sympathy for other people)
It takes a hard heart not to be moved by these images of suffering.
▪ a heavy heart (=feeling very sad)
She made her way to the hospital with a heavy heart.
▪ a light heart (=feeling happy)
Paul left for home with a light heart.
▪ a broken heart (=feeling very sad because of a problem in love)
I wonder how many broken hearts Carlo was responsible for.
■ verbs
▪ break sb’s heart (=make someone feel very sad)
It broke my heart to see him so sick.
▪ follow your heart (= do what your emotions want you to do)
Go for it. Follow your heart. Who cares what everyone else thinks?
▪ sb’s heart aches (=to feel very sad)
It made his heart ache to look at her
■ phrases
▪ heart and soul (=all your feelings)
She loved Peter with all her heart and soul.
▪ affairs of the heart (=matters relating to love)
I had little experience of affairs of the heart.
▪ sb’s heart rules their head (=someone makes decisions based on emotions rather than careful thought)
He has never been one to let his heart rule his head.
▪ a heart of gold (=a very kind character)
She was rather brisk in manner but with a heart of gold.
▪ a heart of stone (=a very cruel character)
You’d have to have a heart of stone not to feel sorry for them.
▪ be in good heart (=to be happy and confident)
The team was in good heart, despite their loss this weekend.
▪ be sick at heart (=to feel very unhappy)
He was too sick at heart to know what to say.